# 115
“Initials — these count!”
IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
June 16, 2012
It’s a simple word, really — one we use everyday. What a shame that some go about their work in such a cavalier fashion that the word is lost to them.
All of us are accustomed to receiving packages via the US Postal Service, UPS or FedEX. Rarely does a box arrive in poor condition. Not so when a package must undergo a series of stops in warehouses along the route.
First of all, I have the utmost respect for semi drivers. My father drove a semi for years in his business and my husband does so in his business today. Not only am I in awe of their talent in maneuvering these behemoths around small roads and parking lots, but also I shudder at the way most drivers behave when around them.
It seems that ordinary drivers think that a semi can “stop on a dime” or make turns without allowing for length and load. Not so. I cannot tell you how many times I have ridden along with my husband and had a driver cut whip in front of us or begin to turn without signaling first. It’s all the truck driver can do to avoid a calamity.
Back to the warehouse. While the semi drivers are fastidious in the way they load their trailer to balance the load and tie down objects that could easily shift, the forklift drivers work as if a tornado were bearing down on the building and they only have ten seconds to get the package on the truck!
I speak from experience on this one. I have watched warehouse forklift operators. While some are careful, others rush at their work. I’m not sure if their bosses require too much work in too short a time span or not, but it looks that way.
Forks are marvelous tools. Whether on a ground bound forklift or on a boom truck, they can maneuver in tight spaces and place objects with precision. I have seen forklifts set objects down so gently that one would assume the box contained eggs!
Ah, if only the warehouse people took such care. A box arrived at an area lumberyard marked for us. Marked “FRAGILE – HANDLE WITH CARE” in BRIGHT RED every five feet of its 30-foot length, that crate should have been babied from its origin to its destination.
So much for what I expected! One end of the crate hung wildly, separated from the pallet beneath it. The other end had a hole punched in about 8 inches in depth. Thankfully, the company that shipped it made sure it was encased in a particleboard box banded with 2x4s. About four or five feet down one side, a huge hole stopped just short of the cardboard box cradled within. Had it not been for the care taken at departure, we would have been recipients of a trashed product.
It all comes down to initials. Alas, pride should be read as Personal Responsibility In Daily Effort. I’ll bet if all workers took real pride in a job well done, the prices of many items would drop. Just total the costs of “en route” product damage, return shipping, replacement and additional shipping. Adds up, doesn’t it?
Preach to your teens on that first job. Insist that the follow instructions. This, of course, ignores a poor boss who pushes speed over accuracy. Why can’t we hope and pray that the employers see the value in taking those extra few minutes to do it right. Great idea, huh?
I know, that’s a lot to ask. Yet, in the greater scheme of things, I recall an old saying: “The hurried’er I go, the behind’er I get!” Think about it.