My first week and the broken bellows incident

Back when I started, we still used hand bellows to stoke the furnace fire. The old crew dared me to give it a hard pump to impress the boss. I pulled too hard and the thing snapped, sending ash everywhere. Everyone just stared while the foreman sighed and fetched the spare. Now with electric fans, new guys don't get hazed like that anymore, which is probably for the best lol.

3 comments

3 Comments

nathanl367mo ago

Remember that weird urge to prove yourself by breaking company equipment? My version was trying to look strong by over-tightening a valve with a wrench. The handle snapped clean off and shot past the supervisor's head. I guess my hazing was just me doing it to myself. These days you just get a safety video, which is way less exciting but way less likely to get you fired.

sethp267mo ago

Man, I read something about this a while back. There was this study that said young guys in manual jobs are way more likely to get hurt in their first few months, mostly because they're trying too hard to show they can keep up. They overdo it on purpose, like lifting something too heavy or, yeah, cranking on a valve until it explodes. It's like a dumb badge of honor. Your story about the wrench flying is a perfect, scary example. It's good that safety stuff is more common now, even if the videos are boring.

nancy307mo ago

Reading about that weird urge to prove yourself really hits home. I snapped a drive belt on my second day trying to show I could handle the old press machine. What worked for me was swallowing my pride and asking the old-timers for tips BEFORE breaking something. They actually respected me MORE for admitting I didn't know everything, and it saved me from causing a REAL mess. Now I tell new guys that asking questions is the SMART move, not a weak one.