Day 143 of 365-Pt.2: With a little help from my friends

I’d like you to meet my friends Me, Myself, and I. I is a little shy, but don’t mind him, he’s a pretty good guy. When I take on the errand of cutting a rig they really are about the only folk I can truly count on. I’m not suggesting I don’t trust anyone else, I’m merely suggesting I don’t trust anyone with this kind of work. It’s not that I’m suggesting it’s difficult work either. A little repetitious but by no means anything that might fall into the realm of overwhelming…It just takes patience. That really is the key. That’s really all it takes. Patience.
Over the years I’ve taken on a total of three apprentices under my wing. Young bucks interested in the trade, and the vigorous allure of extra coin in their pockets. Honestly I’d invited the idea. I don’t feel threatened when other machine polishers move in on my territory. There has never been enough of me to go around, and each summers end I find myself shaking my head as I clean my wallet of the dozens of phone numbers and business cards I never had a chance to call back on. Three times I’ve taken the time to teach someone how to cut a truck…And three times I’ve been burned.
The first time I made the mistake of promising a 50/50 cut of the profit right up front. We quickly realized that was a very big mistake when said apprentice decided he’d had enough only three hours into the work on the first day, and retreated with complaints of nausea, never to be seen from again…Till of course it came time to collect on that 50/50 cut of the profit I’d promised.
The second apprentice was a bit more ambitious. He dove into the work like his life depended on it. He knew how to work. He honestly made me look bad…The second time round it wasn’t the apprentice that burned me, it was the client. A fledgling under my wing, a dirty rig, and a very meticulous driver. A meticulous driver that drove off with a rig we’d spent more then twenty hours cutting on…Without paying a dime. The driver never returned to pay us. The apprentice never returned to cut again. I had to close down shop for three months and balance out the lose (all of the supplies had come out of my pocket). The company has since changed it’s name…Apparently we weren’t the only folk they didn’t pay.
The third apprentice, and as near as I can figure, the last…Well…I lined up a big job, and I was counting on him. It was one of those rigs I knew I couldn’t take on alone, and the payout was going to be handsome. It was a big job. I had my doubts about the new apprentice, but I’d already scheduled the appointment and forked out the coin for supplies. With all my speculation one thing did in the end shine through…Turns out I was able to take on a job that big alone. The apprentice never even showed up.
These days I don’t take on apprentices. A know a few guys that want to learn the trade, and when they ask me to teach them, I sing a single refrain. “The trick to a clean cut is patience. That’s really all you need to know. The rest you pick up along the way as you go it on your own. Just like I did.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wG6Cgmgn5U

Friday, May 21st. 2010

Taken on: May 21, 2010

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project

365

polishing

Sets appears in: • 365 - pt.2

Groups appears in: • FlickrCentral • Project 365

Camera: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi, f/3.5, 1/20 sec, 18mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
Aperture:	f/3.5
Exposure Time:	0.05 sec (1/20)
Focal Length:	18mm
ISO:	400
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
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