The New and Improved Cynical Idealist

The guy with a knife

Every workplace has got one. The one guy who always has a knife right when you need one. The guy who could shave a sleeping wolf without waking it up. Every single heavy industry place has that guy. Usually, he's one of the most reliable guys on the job, maybe not for attendance but he's still for the most part there every day. When it comes to problem solving though, or just solid know-how, there's almost no one more revered than the guy with the knife. They've just been around.

Our guy with a knife just retired. 25 years. There was no one in my career that I could say had more of tenure among the workers than that guy. Rock solid guy he was. 20 years as a Boilermaker, then he went into the steel industry. He was a great welder, a solid crane operator, and he always had a knife.

I appreciate the guy with a knife for a bunch of reasons. One of the biggest ones is his knife is never a ridiculous Crocodile Dundee 'That's a knife' kind of knife. It's a little thing, with hardly more than a few inches of blade. Some pocket knife they've had since forever ago, but its more than enough knife to a guy with skills. I appreciate that out of the knife guy, it's not pretentious, it's just right.

Usually the knife guy has the most creative solutions to uncommon problems. Creative in their simplicity. Something that when you hear the idea, it sounds insane because it's just too simple for it to work. Time and time again, they prove simple is always ALWAYS better. He's the one guy on the crew who is little more than a grunt, but has so much experience and know-how that he's the de facto guy in charge despite what the managers and foremen think. Generally, unlike most managers and foremen, he also has a lot more tact in dealing with the guys he works with. A leader never given or never desiring the reins, but the most important part of it, is they are not bitter about not being in charge. They simply come to work, and just do, without stirring the pot and without stepping on toes. It's a shame there's not more knife guys.

I'll say, if there's one pair of shoes that's the hardest to fill on a crew, it's the guy with a knife.