Dykes on Bikes (dykes/tools)

[sagehen]

>>From my SBC cable tech:

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In 1999 I was hired and trained as a phone line repair tech at what was
then Ameritech. The class in basic installation and repair was taught
by a man who had begun his career when the company was doing business
as Ohio Bell. He was serious about the task of teaching and clearly
wanted to encourage careful habits in us, both in our troubleshooting
logic and in the way we handled the vast collection of components that
make up the telephone network.  He was an exemplar of old-time
craftsmanship and had a detailed understanding of the rules and regs
and codes. He could quote with ease the required minimum height
clearance of a subscriber drop that spans a street versus the same as
it crosses an alley. He knew his work. And I suppose he was being
obedient to company policy when he solemnly informed us, as he cut a
pair of wires in a demonstration, that the tool he was using was no
longer to be referred to as "dykes" but as "diagonal side-cutters"
(or he may have said "diagonal side-cuts"). None of us questioned it
although in other matters we made pretty free with the standing
invitation to ask questions. The class was frequently punctuated with
banter and plays for attention, yet this time we  absorbed the
edict without comment, registering it as one more thing to be wary of
in the job we were trying to learn. The moment for discussion passed
and we went back to running wires and installing jacks.  I am as
puzzled now as I was then over the question of whose interests or
sensibilities are protected by the injunction. Whose?

I see now that I have merely set the terms for my own further inquiry.
I'll keep my ears open.

Raven Murie
polecat at isp.com
*************
A. Murie

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