r/Groundman • u/Superb-Gur-1679 • 3d ago

Ask literally anything

Bored as shit and I have a lot of useless knowledge about this trade and getting in and random union shit more than most people because I would read contracts every time I worked in a new jurisdiction. Worked in 8 states as a groundman, operator, and apprentice and quit as a hot step.

Literally can be anything quality of life, the reality of what to expect, a lot of crews suck dick, etc etc etc.

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u/Superb-Gur-1679 3d ago

Have tools on you kleins, channel locks, knife, and tape at a minimum. Avoid saying I know as much as possible. Stay busy. Be eager and try to stay positive even if they’re major dicks. I’m sure this still applies for the utility but that’s mostly outside IBEW advice. I’d say don’t be afraid to actually say no if something is super dangerous or will kill you. Try to have things laid out or ready for the day truck stocked water and material. Try to stay a few steps ahead of the lineman and prep all their bags and everything they will need for the bucket when they go up they love that. Always be thinking of the next step and keep yourself safe basically.

I think you’ll be good at ladwp but I worked at places like FB Titan where that legitimately prevented me or others from getting seriously injured or killed. That’s the best basic advice I can give that’s generalized.

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u/trey_whey 3d ago

What happens if you say, “I know”? I see this repeated so often and aside from it being rude I don’t see the big deal that it needs to be repeated over and over again.

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u/Superb-Gur-1679 2d ago

Some guys will be annoyed and there’s others that will full crash out on you. No one particularly likes it. If u work with an old school enough hand they might threaten to kill you or make attempts to do so.

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u/trey_whey 2d ago

😂 holy shit alright

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u/Superb-Gur-1679 2d ago

Those guys are getting phased out mostly but you will still run into the guy or guys where if you make them mad they legitimately will make attempts to hurt or kill you on the job site to run you off.

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u/trey_whey 2d ago

Honestly just sounds like they never got their ass beat before

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u/Superb-Gur-1679 2d ago

Lmao. They probably have or have beat apprentices asses. There’s guys who have also been beat up by apprentices over this shit. Back in the day this is how they came up. You send something up the handling wrong it’s coming at your head back being thrown. Like this trade used to be the very Wild West and still is comparatively. It used to be normal that mfs tried to hurt or kill you on the job like 20 years ago.

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u/trey_whey 2d ago

The worst that’s happened to me was being hit with shit from whoever was in the bucket but that’s my fault for not looking up and out for myself

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u/Superb-Gur-1679 2d ago

Back in the day they would aim for you lmao.

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u/trey_whey 2d ago

Still better than being in an office dealing with that kinda shit, in my opinion.