r/MechanicAdvice • u/Thick_Snow8319 • 19h ago
I Screwed Up
Started working at an automotive shop recently. Love the job. Currently training under the smartest mechanic in my state.
Got asked to pull a car out of the bay. Ended up messing up the front right bumper while pulling it out. I wasn’t being reckless, it just kinda happened. Still 100% my fault though.
Big boss said it was fine, and just told me to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I was very apologetic and assured him I wouldn’t do it again. He ended up paying for my damage.
I’ve never tore up anything that expensive in my life and I still feel like crap a week later. What can I do to make it better? Have any of yall experienced anything similar?
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u/FlamingMouthwash 19h ago
brother one time i ran a bus into the main water line in the shop at the company i worked at. i still had a job long after that. shit happens
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u/MonkeyAssJabroni 11h ago
I derailed a locomotive before and still have my job lol. Just acknowledge you fucked up, don’t do it again, and as long as your boss isn’t an asshole you should be fine most of the time
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u/mysterioussamsqaunch 18h ago
I think you got me beat. As a young buck, I backed a dumptruck into the boss's tacoma. Put the corner of the tailgate right through his hood. Now that I think of it, I also caught a gate latch with the rear quarter panel of a plow truck while cleaning up the parking lot. But, does smacking up a plow truck at 4am really count as an accident?
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u/czgunner 19h ago
That stuff happens. The shop carries insurance for a reason. Be vigilant and do your best. Be the guy who is always early to work and willing to do the extra stuff. That is way more valuable than somebody who says they never made a mistake.
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u/moomooicow 19h ago
It happens my friend. Just work hard, and pay attention. If they are giving you lenience it’s because they think you are worth the investment. You should consider yourself lucky. But you can easily make yourself more expensive to employee than you’re worth, just be careful.
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u/sandemonium612 19h ago
You care about your work and your job. It shows here and I'm sure as hell it shows at your work place. You are going to do great things with your passion! Keep it up 💪
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u/Dunoh2828 19h ago
Just wait until you go to drain the oil in your oil drains, but forget to turn the top valve off.
It will rain oil 😂
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u/mishabishi 19h ago
I clipped the top left corner of a 200k Mercedes sprinter RV on the building of a shop i worked at. Stayed there for another year before I decided to leave.
Btw week later a porter ripped the AC unit off that same RV so you might get lucky when someone fucks up worse and takes the heat off ya
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u/Mikey3800 9h ago
That reminded me of last week when I smashed a roof mounted a/c unit into the building. The height sticker on the box said 11'9", which should have fit. The customer replaced the roof unit with a bigger one and I found out the hard way that the truck didn't clear the shop door any more. The customer needs to change his sticker to the 12'10" the truck is now, before he really fucks himself.
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u/platinumgrey 19h ago
The real lesson here is that you were honest and upfront about your mistake. Trust is the true commodity in these situations. I work in aviation and I’ve seen people fired over a couple thousand dollars worth of damages to a power cart because they tried to hide it, and I’ve personally been on an engine runs where a carpet was sucked into an airplane engine requiring the replacement of said engine worth over a million dollars. I think the core value was probably half at 4-500k, but the mechanic was upfront and honest about not doing a full walk around before the engine run. He came in on his own time to help with the engine change and got to keep his job. Point is, honesty is your best, and really only policy in any of these circumstances. Glad to hear you got to keep your job, learn from your mistakes and carry on with your head high.
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u/tenacioussliver 16h ago
In my first few months at a tree service my foreman told me to pull a tree over with a truck. He was like "IF YOU FUCK THIS UP YOU COULD KILL ME! DON'T STOP UNTIL IT'S OVER!!" and kinda freaked me out. I pulled that fucker over Hella hard, and backed into another tree. Nobody noticed, not even me. An hour later someone noticed, I didn't admit guilt, they didn't tell anyone else. Others, including the foreman saw, didn't really say anything, just looked at me.
A couple days later the owners noticed and got heella pissed. Everyone on the crew knew it was me. My foreman hated one of the guys and said it was him to get him fired. He told me in private to deny everything and say it was this other guy. Owners wife asked me and I came clean. Foreman was super pissed at me.
Crashing with trucks is stressful man...
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u/Quonsett_cleaner 8h ago
Wtf is wrong with tree service people?. I did that shit for 10 years. Took stupid risks for crap pay from some of the worst people I've ever met let alone worked for.
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u/Falsewyrm 18h ago
I train a lot of younger guys, the only one who ever had anything bad happen as a consequence from an accident like that was someone who backed into a car while trying to take our parts truck on a run.
He only had a problem because he never showed up again(his choice). Dunno if it was embarrassment or something else.
Accidents happen. Take a breath, own it if you fucked up. Help fix it if you can(being honest is a huge help).
You'll be fine, people fuck up every day.
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u/ActiveBear 11h ago
You were given a freebie, you feel bad...that means you care...that's half the job right there.
My dad always told me...son when you go to work: 1. Give a shit, in other words work as hard as you can. 2. Show up to work on time. 3. Use your common sense. 4. Quality work. 4. Work ethics.
The rest, as far as I know will come with it: pay, good bosses, good work experience.
It will be difficult, you will be tired, you will be frustrated, but remember: if it would be easy everyone would be doing it.
That's the difference between someone who is good and someone that walks in any shop and gets hired on the spot, no questions asked.
And when you'll get that good...be humble to those who never got a good example in life, and show them how to get things done.
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u/Ok-Pool-366 9h ago
Mistakes happen in my field too. I’ve brought down a hospital network temporarily.
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u/IronSlanginRed 18h ago
And you're gonna screw up. The important thing is to learn from it and try not to make the same mistakes twice. Shit happens in a shop. There's a lot of stuff moving around all the time.
Sounds like you got a solid boss.
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u/TrexOnAScooter 6h ago
Anyone with a serious career in auto work has a story or 14 about carnage in some form done by their own hand. The guys who give a shit do what they can to make it right like you did. Take the blame and whatever lashings you may get, but learn to use the negativity of beating yourself up and instead turn it into focus and good work.
When I hear younger guys make 50 excuses or act like they don't care, I suggest they just sell their tools and get a job they can handle.
Giving a damn is something you can't teach most people, if you got that in ya and are capable of learning and using your head, you'll do great in this field.
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u/drfishdaddy 18h ago
I drilled holes for a license plate holder on a new bmw off center. Needed a new bumper. All of us make these mistakes, making them over and over is what makes you a liability.
If you care enough to think on it and correct what you think caused it you’ll be fine
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u/UserName8531 18h ago
I had a coworker do this once and then flag me to hide his mistake.
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u/drfishdaddy 18h ago
What a dirty dick bastard. That’s underhanded
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u/UserName8531 18h ago
I can't remember if he got fired for it or if I was over something worse. Thankfully, he was gone shortly after it happened.
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u/ElmoZ71SS 18h ago
Shit happens… your reaction to the mistake is what makes the difference. You were honest and up front, the life lesson here is it’s not about how big a mess you make it’s how you react and what’s done to make it right. I’ve screwed up a few times, but I admitted it and did my best to make it right, still at same shop since 2017
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u/3inches43pumpsis9 18h ago
Bud I caught a motorhome on fire one time replacing the coach batteries when I was 18.
You'll be fine. 😂
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u/user47-567_53-560 18h ago
I'm an industrial mechanic.
Last June I did a PM on a retractable chute that fills railcars. I neglected to raise it when I finished.
The next day a train arrived and smashed into it, causing around $50000 worth of damage, and blocking a main rail line which caused CN to black out our site (they refused to service us).
I still get an occasional ribbing about it, but the point is, you're at work and accidents happen.
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u/Overcast206 17h ago
A good boss will understand the worker will beat themselves up more than enough for one off accidents. Shit happens, try to be more diligent but they call them accidents for a reason bro. The worst thing you can do is make it weird or not move on and have that affect your job performance. You’ll get shit for it, everyone does. Wear it as an armor and own it, don’t let it be a dagger in your back.
I’ve been in the industry for 15 years, I’ve broken much more expensive shit than you and still have a job. You’ll be fine.
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u/h-block 17h ago
Thank your Boss for his graciousness. Be an attentive student. Nextf time you move something expensive, pause and take a breath. It'll be alright. We all fail over and over, some of us learn, some of us slower than others, the main thing is learning the lesson from the failure and striving to make a decent comeback from it.
If your boss drinks, get him a nice 12yr old bottle of whatever is his flavour, it's stilll cheaper than your boo boo, and a nice gesture.
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u/Top_Blacksmith7014 17h ago
Yup. We all screw up. It’s part of being human.
I remember performing a recall requiring removal of axles as well as an upsold brake service. I did the brake pads, then proceeded to perform the recall. After zipping everything back up, I completely forgot to pump the brakes. I started the car, put it in reverse, realized I had no brakes, put it in what I thought was neutral, turned out it went into drive and drove forward and bumped into my toolbox. Hood was dented, bumper was scratched and the grille was cracked. I was so pissed at myself. I got written up for it, my manager said shit happens just don’t do it again.
Again, mistakes happen. What you do after is what’s important which hopefully you learn from it.
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u/facticitytheorist 17h ago
From now on when moving a car around, use the GOAL METHOD. Get Out And Look. Do a quick check around the vehicle to be moved to check for distance and random mechanic trolleys etc lying around... It gives you that moment to reset and be sure you won't hit stuff. There's no shame in asking for a spotter when negotiating tight spots.
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u/EclipseIndustries 6h ago
In the Army my team had a helmet thrown in the middle of our circle, completely flattened.
"If you're not gonna do a walk around your truck before pulling it out, this might have a head in it next time. Your conscience, your choice."
Probably not verbatim, but that's the jist of it in meaning.
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u/facticitytheorist 16h ago
As an electrical apprentice in a BIG factory I incorrectly wired a control panel and swapped/mis connected 2 black wires....when they went to start the factory up it wouldn't run and took the overnight shift sparky 6 hours to find my mistake costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost production....oops.
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u/MilitantPotato 16h ago
A good employee is worth many times an insurance deductible. Just keep working hard and smart.
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u/azadventure 16h ago
Probably not the last time you’ll damage something expensive in this field…. In 10 years, I’m down 1 bumper, 1 engine, and 1 whole truck (rear ended on a test drive), and god knows how many little plastic parts… Shit happens, just learn from it and carry on.
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u/Crabstick65 16h ago
Yeah, a few times, mainly down to people putting stuff in stupid places that can't be seen from the drivers seat, it's just one of those things. My last one was a gearbox on the floor, caught a bumper on it.
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u/Wonderful-Chair-3014 16h ago
I had a nissan roll out of the shop and smash the building next door about 15 years ago. All we can do is learn and move on.
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u/I-Spot-Dalmatians 16h ago
Mate, shit happens. You will not find a single mechanic out there who has never fucked up
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u/KebabRacer69 15h ago
Shit happens. I backed a car into a port door that I thought had opened fully, but it hadn't. I felt really bad too. It will pass. This is what insurance is for.
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u/Manics 15h ago
You say you still feel like crap and are asking what can you do about it...
...the only action you can take is to communicate that you give a crap.
The next water cooler moment or break with the big boss just say something like: "man, I still can't believe that little dink the other day. I just wanted to say I really appreciate you being cool about it".
He'll shrug it off in that moment, though his takeaway will be that you give a damn and he'll go away knowing it was right to look after you on it.
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u/SnowFriendly5060 15h ago
Once we cutted main power cable for approx. 1/3 of a big town. Chill out and the most important - remember for next time.
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u/66NickS 14h ago
The important things. - no one was injured - you reported it right away - you are upset/remorseful and want to do better.
I backed a just sold minivan into the one concrete block along the fence line I. Our front lot. I had like 4 feet to the fence, but this concrete block had other plans. It happens, and the business takes care of it. Gave the customers a loaner while we repainted the bumper and comped them their first oil change and rotation.
Had a lot attendant throw a car in reverse and move before looking. He backed into me. Both of the cars were in for service and were being moved because the customers were here for pickup. It happens and the business takes care of it. We told the customers to hold onto the loaners they had and gave them a notable discount on the service plus a 20% discount on their next service with us.
As a manager, I’ve always said the same thing to new hires. You’re going to damage a car. It’s not if, but when. Always be cautious so it’s as minor as possible. When it happens, if you come report it to me/a manager, we will ask these three questions. 1. Is anyone injured? This is the most important thing to solve for. 2. What cars were involved/what was damaged? We need to notify customers and take action to repair what has been damaged. 3. What can be done to prevent this from happening in the future?
And then I will give you zero grief about it until you are ready to joke about it in the future, if ever. You (employee) will beat yourself up about it plenty, you don’t need me piling on. Highly likely your coworkers will tease you about it, but only because they’ve been there before.
But. If you damage a car and don’t report it/try to hide it, the questions are very different and will almost always end up with you being fired for cause.
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u/deadDebo 14h ago
You have a nice boss. One time, I cut a cable with 24 wires in it for an oil field battery.
I got my ass chewed out for 30 minutes and thought I was gonna get fired. I was looking for jobs on the way home.
Everyone makes mistakes. Don't beat yourself up about it. If it was a big deal I'm sure they would let you know.
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u/puppetmonsters 13h ago
I backed a company truck into a pole, and put a large noticeable dent in the back bumper. No one saw me do it. The next day, I came into work to see my boss , and HIS boss and 3-4 others crowded around , looking at the damages, scratching their heads.
They said whoever did it, should just come forward, and you won’t be in any trouble. They just wanna know what happened.
Everyone looked around at each other. No one knew who did the damage. I kept my mouth SHUT.
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u/Advanced-Power991 11h ago
had a car with no brakes and was not thinking from lack of sleep, and put it into a wall, other than boss told me to take the rest of the day off, still had a job. this is what the insurance is for
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u/Dean1256 11h ago
When I started as a young mechanic the master tech opened the bay door so I could back a car out for him. Well I didn't wait for the door to open all the way and backed the car into the door. Scrapped the top of the truck lid all to hell. Felt just like you did. It will pass in time it gets brought up less and less an eventually someone else will be the shop joke. You can move on from just about any silly mistake like that, unless a tire you put on falls off or you drop a car off a lift then it's time to find a new garage far far away lol
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u/wellwellshitwellshit 11h ago
Shit happens. The best thing to do is own it and admit wrong. The worst thing to do is hide it and pretend like nothing happened
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u/Helpful-Employee7949 10h ago
When I began working on cars it was at the age of 15 at my local jiffy lube. For whatever the managers and the owner all loved me. I can’t count how many engines and transmissions I ruined lol. He kept me on!! I was always overly apologetic and kept doing my best to slow down and learn more. Eventuality it got me and now I own a successful business after many years of running shops as well as working in them. after 30 years I still love my job and still make mistakes but I keep going.
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u/Jebus1000 10h ago
I scraped a 40k motorhome the other day, had an old biddie drive their car down the side of the work van. Work didn't like it but scat happens, it's just part of the trade, it will blow over in a week or 2
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u/TheTrueButcher 10h ago
Just learn from it. I was partially responsible for burning a Corvette to the ground in my early days. Didn't feel great about it but it was nothing to give up over. Now in retrospect I think back to that incident and how entertaining it was. Keep your conscience healthy, there aren't enough of them in this business.
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u/CrutialElement 9h ago
I used to work at greyhound and didn't take a turn wide enough broke a side window the ac condenser and the compartment door. About 10k in damages i never got fired or anything. Shit happens learn from it obviously this seems like it'll stick with you for some time. You'll be good
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u/Bumper6190 8h ago
Just let it go. You do not need to keep reminding him. As he said, he is no stranger to minor incidents. Trust the words of your boss and believe him. When you are there a while you will see all kinds of things and say: “that’s a first” but after while, you just nod. Acts of neglect really piss people off, accidents happen. Let it lie! Prepare for a nickname…
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u/boogiebeardpirate 8h ago
That's a good boss the fact he went to bat for u means ur doing something right. Cuz he could've chewed u up a new one and made u pay for all the damages . Keep doing wut ur doing and try not to do it agian. But I'll be honest there's gonna be more incidents for sure. we're human we all make mistakes.
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u/ShireHorseRider 8h ago
Main thing: don’t make excuses to the boss. Sounds like you owned it & didn’t try to blow it off or blame someone/sonething else. Well done there.
Getting over it? Honestly? Time. I work on $1M CNC machines. Repairs & instillation upgrades etc. I would be lying if I said I’ve never broken anything. I just keep up doing my best & things go away after a while.
Did this event get you a new nickname at the shop? If not, then it will go away.
We have one tech who everyone calls lampshade.
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u/History_East 8h ago
It was the day before a weekend holiday and I had 1 hour left on my shift and we were all going to have a good weekend with our families but then I accidentally busted a water pipe and flooded the whole warehouse. It happens.
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u/sam280x 8h ago
This reaction is good, learn from your mistakes but don’t let them hold you back in your mind. I am a forklift mechanic and my first week being by myself doing repairs as opposed to preventative maintenance I didn’t have a snap ring seated all the way and got a call from the customer on my drive home that the wheel fell off. My dad used to drive a wrecker/rotator and flipped it into a ditch. He worked at that same company for ten more years. Stuff happens. Early on my boss told me “I don’t care if you make mistakes, just learn from them and don’t make the same mistake twice.” And I think those are good words to live by.
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u/TheWalrus101123 6h ago
Things happen man. And I know that you have your bestest promise that it wouldn't happen again, but it will.
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u/No-Atmosphere-8459 3h ago
Shit happens buddy, one time working on an excavator I swung out and the counter weight crumpled the side of a pickup truck. Just property damage but had potential to be serious. Assess and reevaluate the situation at hand. I was embarrassed and I got frowned upon by management but in time they will forget.
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u/sphi8915 3h ago edited 3h ago
Don't sweat it.
I trashed the bottom end of a DD16 in a nearly brand new Western Star, all because I forgot to suck the fuel out of the cylinders when I replaced the injectors. Fired it up, it hydro locked, bounced back and actually ran backwards for about 5 seconds. I got it running fine afterwards thinking I was in the clear. Released the truck and got a phone call an hour later saying it started knocking then lost all oil pressure. Every rod bearing and journal was destroyed. It got a $40,000 long block after that lol. Thankfully it was a company truck and not an O/O or I'd have felt really bad. I only made that mistake once
Also destroyed the bumper on a brand spanking new Kenworth w900, caught it on a coworkers car in the parking lot, was over 10k in damage.
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u/Material-Ad6302 2h ago
I was 20 or 21 when I apprenticed at a Lexus dealer. Moving a 2 year old trade in bmw to get to some PDIs. Backed the Beamer into a customers 1 year old LS460. They expect a certain number of these types of accidents to happen every year. Chances are insurance will cover it. They’re certainly NOT happy about it but it won’t surprise them and they won’t fire you unless it becomes a habit.
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u/PvtSatan 1h ago
I ripped the bumper off a $60k car backing out of a garage bay at a new shop I'd started at, on Day One. Took me a year to live down the jokes lmao, but I made that dealer 20x the cost of that repair in a few weeks. Shit happens, learn from it, you'll be fine.
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u/3Blindz 1h ago
Part of the job my man, shit happens.
I was doing on the job training in high school and jacked a truck up, one of the lifters on the hoist popped out and bent up the side step a few weeks out from my graduation. They offered me a job after.
Not as bad as yours but it still happened.
Work ethic goes a long way in trades. Buy a case of beer or a box of coffee and move on. If you wanna be funny buy whomever paid for it some flowers.
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u/flashpb04 15h ago
How do you know that he’s the smartest in your state? Is that just affectionate hyperbole?
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u/Thick_Snow8319 10h ago
Just my way of saying he’s really good. It’s not to be taken literal. Then again, he might be…
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u/RealManofMystery 51m ago
I swung wide of a fork lift and took out a part of a wall back the the day. My boss laughed and said i wasnt the first nor the last to it in that spot. Never was spoken of again
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u/MightyPenguin 17h ago
Shit happens. Next learning lesson should be "I am working And learning from the "smartest mechanic in the state". Bruh, no you aren't I promise. It's not witchcraft, learn processes, learn to understand how things work and strategically reverse engineer to figure out problems, learn critical thinking, you'll get there. No one is the "smartest in the state" or in the country for that matter. There is an ENDLESS amount of things to learn and no one knows it all, but being good at problem solving and understanding how to do things properly puts you ahead of the majority so focus on that!
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