a true uk experience
i have a colleague who is a British national, and is a year younger than me. She is soft spoken, has an engineering degree and has been working for 2 and half years already. her car was wrecked in a supermarket carpark when a 14 year old boy crashed a stolen car into hers. She and a friend were standing next to her car when it happened, and both of them sustained injuries like broken legs and cuts on the heads. The boy was arrested by police later on, and the car was towed to a workshop. My colleague received some stitches on her forehead, then she went to the car workshop.
The boss told her the car would only be ready after christmas, because he had a few other cars to work on first. She didn't want that, and reasoned things out with the boss.
"Look at those cars, they are all old and in a mess...you still won't be able to sell them easily after you have refurbished them. Do mine first. I'll pay you in cash when the job is done."
The boss hesitated. "But I've promised the other owners that I'll get their cars done by XXX days......"
My colleague went, "Just call them up and say you haven't got spares or the right paint and that their cars won't be ready by the promised dates."
In the end, the boss really called up the 5 other car owners and told them their cars would not be ready due to lack of spares, etc. He then told my colleague that he will get to work on her car and she could pick it up on Sunday. Satisfied, my colleague then left.
On Sunday, the car was ready when she reached the workshop. A young apprentice mechanic (prob 16 yrs) was doing the final touch ups, and offered to reverse the car out of the workshop for her. She said she'd do it, but the apprentice insisted he do it. So she let him get behind the wheel. He reversed the car a bit, and then promptly crashed the car on some equipment, destoying the bumper.
The boss came running over and shouted at the apprentice. "She said she would do it, why did you still reverse the car?!"
Then to my colleague he apologised and said he would replace the bumper FOC and she can come again the next day.
True to his word, the car was ready the next day, and already reversed out of the workshop. While paying the bill (in cash), the boss said the apprentice had been with him for 2 wks, and he had just been fired.
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What actually struck me in this entire recount is the ages of the pple involved. my 23-yr old friend who is streetwise enough to persuade the repair boss to give her priority, the 14 yr old who stole and crashed the car and the 16 yr old apprentice who got fired after 2 wks.
and what are we all doing/have done at age ~24? I'm not telling anyone to steal cars or what....but it appears to me that for UK (and perhaps many other countries), adulthood begins at 16. Almost all the engineers in RR started their careers at 16, as an apprentice doing very manual jobs and getting bullied all the time. Then they went to university and some of them are now widely recognised as THE experts in their respective fields. Prior to coming over, I thought they know nothing abt the real world shopfloor, and just bury themselves in research papers and stare at computer screens. I'm so wrong........ and I think I truly look up to these guys...
The boss told her the car would only be ready after christmas, because he had a few other cars to work on first. She didn't want that, and reasoned things out with the boss.
"Look at those cars, they are all old and in a mess...you still won't be able to sell them easily after you have refurbished them. Do mine first. I'll pay you in cash when the job is done."
The boss hesitated. "But I've promised the other owners that I'll get their cars done by XXX days......"
My colleague went, "Just call them up and say you haven't got spares or the right paint and that their cars won't be ready by the promised dates."
In the end, the boss really called up the 5 other car owners and told them their cars would not be ready due to lack of spares, etc. He then told my colleague that he will get to work on her car and she could pick it up on Sunday. Satisfied, my colleague then left.
On Sunday, the car was ready when she reached the workshop. A young apprentice mechanic (prob 16 yrs) was doing the final touch ups, and offered to reverse the car out of the workshop for her. She said she'd do it, but the apprentice insisted he do it. So she let him get behind the wheel. He reversed the car a bit, and then promptly crashed the car on some equipment, destoying the bumper.
The boss came running over and shouted at the apprentice. "She said she would do it, why did you still reverse the car?!"
Then to my colleague he apologised and said he would replace the bumper FOC and she can come again the next day.
True to his word, the car was ready the next day, and already reversed out of the workshop. While paying the bill (in cash), the boss said the apprentice had been with him for 2 wks, and he had just been fired.
-----
What actually struck me in this entire recount is the ages of the pple involved. my 23-yr old friend who is streetwise enough to persuade the repair boss to give her priority, the 14 yr old who stole and crashed the car and the 16 yr old apprentice who got fired after 2 wks.
and what are we all doing/have done at age ~24? I'm not telling anyone to steal cars or what....but it appears to me that for UK (and perhaps many other countries), adulthood begins at 16. Almost all the engineers in RR started their careers at 16, as an apprentice doing very manual jobs and getting bullied all the time. Then they went to university and some of them are now widely recognised as THE experts in their respective fields. Prior to coming over, I thought they know nothing abt the real world shopfloor, and just bury themselves in research papers and stare at computer screens. I'm so wrong........ and I think I truly look up to these guys...
posted by who? at 4:23 PM
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