Gomer, Goober & Grease... -

Gomer, Goober & Grease…

Professional Advice for Students Starting Out in Their Careers

You know what grinds my gears? A technician that slimes a vehicle and acts like it’s not really there, and even gets mad if something is said to him about it.

Come on folks, you can see it, you know you did it. Take the time to wipe it off before the customer gets the vehicle back!

Yes, the car might be nasty already with toys strung everywhere, two-week-old half-empty baby bottles underneath one of the six baby seats in the back and smelling like a mixture of fast food French fries, sour milk and BO, but the customer still didn’t have grease on their hands when they grabbed the door handle, the keys, the window controls and the steering wheel.

So, when you get that job in the shop, or if you are already interning at a repair facility, use a little
common sense and take some pride in what you are doing. If you get a little something from your hand on a door handle, it’s OK. However, there is no excuse for
leaving it there.

Grease Balls
You know what else grinds my gears? Technicians that seem to think that it is basic requirement of the job is to walk around with a greasy rag hanging from their back pocket, an oily shirt on and wearing a greasy crooked hat.

Yes, you need rags in short reach in your work bay. But, you don’t need one when going to the soda machine, out to lunch or even while pulling a car into the shop so that it slimes the customer’s seat.

Some technicians should keep a spare uniform at work! Come on, you know you are likely to get nasty at some point during the day. But you don’t need to walk around all day like that.

As for your hat, this is an auto repair shop, not a music video. On your own time, wear it sideways, backwards or  even inside out. Is it too much to ask that you wear it straight forward and level as it is intended to, as long as you are representing your company and profession? Come on, just during business hours.

Whenever I see a “tech” with a rag hanging from his pocket and hat on crooked, I think of Wally’s Filling Station mechanics Gomer (Pyle) and Goober (Pyle) from “The Andy Griffith Show” (if you don’t know who these guys are, ask your shop instructor to explain it to you or checkout www.tvland.com). Gomer and Goober might have been portrayed as honest mechanics, but they were also portrayed as having low intelligence and not someone to trust working on today’s vehicles.

Come on guys, don’t go around looking like a bunch of Gomers and Goobers.

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