|
A Fitter's Story |
Long long ago, before the DART and the LUAS, CIE was changing over from steam to diesel. There was a lot of new diesel rolling stock to be bought, manufactured in Inchicore, and tested, before being put into service in the new era of the diesel.
So the company embarked on a big recruitment drive to get in engineers, fitters and other classes of employees needed to service the new system.
It wasn't long until they realised that the pool from which they were recruiting was quite limited and that there was a shortage of suitable candidates for the job of fitter. So they intensified the recruitment campaign with advertisements in the national and provincial newspapers and big hoarding advertisements.
They finally got in their quota but only just, and the last diesel fitter to be employed was a chap called Joe from Cork. The job interview was a little stressful as Joe had never been outside Cork and the interview panel had never been outside Dublin (surprise, surprise) and found Joe's accent a bit offputting and difficult to decipher. However, he had a long record of previous employment as a diesel fitter and that was what they were looking for. So Joe got the job.
He wasn't long on the job when it became clear that he hadn't the faintest idea what he was at. He fumbled with the nuts and bolts, broke half a dozen lathes and became increasingly agitated as he tried to master the tasks he had been set by his supervisor.
The company finally decided they would have to let Joe go but they really couldn't figure out how a man which such a long and relevant record of employment was overcome with bouts of agitation and incomprehension when asked to do the simplest tasks. They were not heartless people and though they felt they had to let Joe go, they wondered if they might be able to fix him up with some other empolyment outside the company. So they called him in for a final interview.
"Now Joe, we're sorry to have to let you go but you have to admit you're not really up to this. Maybe we could have another look at your employment record and see if we could suggest something you might make a fist of?"
"Well, I have to admit that I found the work here very strange and not at like like what I'd been used to in Cork"
"Tell us, Joe, in what branch of the industry were you a diesel fitter for all those years?"
"Well, that would have been a knickers factory."
"And tell us where did the diesel fitting fit into that?"
"Well, I was on the assembly line, right at the end of it, and I checked every pair of knickers for compatability with the size label. There was typically about a 60% success rate. First pair: diesel fitter. Next pair: diesel fitter. Next pair: diese won't fit her. And so on."
And that's how Joe ended up back with the Kork Knicker Kompany, where he continues his quality control to this very day.
[Source: béaloideas - oral tradition]