My Life in the Trade
The following is a heartfelt story written by Ed Bursott – a retired electrician.
Hi, My name is Ed Bursott. Like many of you who are reading this I am a retired electrician. I started working in the trade in 1968 when I was 19 years old. Oh my, those were the good old days. I was very fortunate that as an apprentice I had very good instructors and I worked with many journeymen that were interested in teaching me the trade. I also took many classes later on that were given by our local union on safety, high voltage termination and control circuitry. I feel however that a very important part of my education was the part that I received in the field. I don’t believe there was even one electrician, man or woman that I worked with that did not teach me something. A few of them I was able to thank for their effort.
I was also able to give back a lot of the knowledge that others had passed on to me. A couple of years ago man approached me and said “Ed, how are you doing?” As it turned out he was an apprentice I had worked with about 15 years earlier. When he told me his name I totally remembered him. Well, he went on to say this- “Do you remember when we were working on that pipe rack? (The pipe rack was about 30 feet off the ground) You told me how to use the safety belt with two lanyards attached to it. Then you said to me- Go ahead, you can do it. You really made a difference. Thanks.” I tell you my eyes started to fill with water. I had given back something that I had received.
After 36 years in the trade I had back problems and pain in several of my joints. Let’s face it, when you physically give a lot it is going to cost you something. I had back surgery and my doctor recommended that I take my retirement if it was at all possible when I was 55. Little did I know the impact it would have when I no longer worked in the trade. I had talked with a few retirees at meetings and at social functions and they all in some way expressed that they missed doing electrical work. I didn’t really understand, or relate to what they were saying. Hey, it was a job. When I did take my retirement – all the pieces fell into place.
I have so many good memories of the work and the people I worked with. Running the pipe, pulling the wire and making all of the connections, there are a lot of different aspects to one project. Then the big payoff comes when you throw on the power, push the buttons and watch a machine or a building come to life. There is no way of describing how that feels, or at least the memory of how that felt. With the physical condition I am in now, I know I will never be able to return to the trade. The memories discussed in this paper are but a few of the things I miss. For me, there is no other job, position, or employment that could ever replace doing electrical work. Yes, I truly understand what those old timers (I’m one of them now) were talking about when they inferred or said outright that they missed working in the trade. No, it isn’t just a job. It is a way of life. It is an occupation quite unlike any other.
One small crumb of advice I would like to leave with you is this. At the end of each day, walk through your work area and look at what you accomplished. The pipe you ran or the machine that is in operation or the lighting that you hung, admire your own accomplishments. Then understand what you feel in your heart. Yes we all need a paycheck, but that feeling of accomplishment will keep you coming back for more.
It was Winston Churchill that said- “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
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