choochooloco
Peer Pressure
Peer pressure. It's a mother......
It is something that we have all experienced at one point in our lives. If it was not in middle school, then it was definitely in high school. And for many people, peer pressure can be found years later in the workplace as well.
You're preaching to the choir here. When I hired on the railroad in 1994, peer pressure was everywhere. It could be found in the yard office, crew room, and even in the locomotive cab.
As a young and recently promoted engineer, you want to run a good train and establish a good reputation with the old head conductors. I would do my very best to keep the train at track speed and follow the rules to the best of my abilities at the time.
What surprised me was the peer pressure I received for trying to operate the train in a manner that kept us both out of the poop! A vast majority of the old heads then could care less about doing it right. If I had a dollar for everytime I heard "That's why I have job insurance kid," I would be retired by now!
Over time, I understood how these guys became so jaded. Technology constantly kept whittling away at jobs, from brakemen, flag men, to firemen. And if it wasn't technology, then it was line redundancy. Believe it or not, there was still friction between the Pennsy, Central, and Erie guys in 1994 from the creation of Conrail 18 years earlier!
It is amazing how times have changed since then. Now the peer pressure has been turned the opposite direction. With so much new technology in the locomotive cab, it will be very difficult to not want to do things correctly. After all, the locomotive's event recorder does not lie!
This sign stands adjacent to the pad at the T-Center in Toledo, Ohio. This location probably sees 50-60 trains a day change crews. The Safety Committee erected the sign in hopes of channeling peer pressure in a positive direction. For me, it is a breath of fresh air compared to 25 years ago.
Peer Pressure.
Peer Pressure
Peer pressure. It's a mother......
It is something that we have all experienced at one point in our lives. If it was not in middle school, then it was definitely in high school. And for many people, peer pressure can be found years later in the workplace as well.
You're preaching to the choir here. When I hired on the railroad in 1994, peer pressure was everywhere. It could be found in the yard office, crew room, and even in the locomotive cab.
As a young and recently promoted engineer, you want to run a good train and establish a good reputation with the old head conductors. I would do my very best to keep the train at track speed and follow the rules to the best of my abilities at the time.
What surprised me was the peer pressure I received for trying to operate the train in a manner that kept us both out of the poop! A vast majority of the old heads then could care less about doing it right. If I had a dollar for everytime I heard "That's why I have job insurance kid," I would be retired by now!
Over time, I understood how these guys became so jaded. Technology constantly kept whittling away at jobs, from brakemen, flag men, to firemen. And if it wasn't technology, then it was line redundancy. Believe it or not, there was still friction between the Pennsy, Central, and Erie guys in 1994 from the creation of Conrail 18 years earlier!
It is amazing how times have changed since then. Now the peer pressure has been turned the opposite direction. With so much new technology in the locomotive cab, it will be very difficult to not want to do things correctly. After all, the locomotive's event recorder does not lie!
This sign stands adjacent to the pad at the T-Center in Toledo, Ohio. This location probably sees 50-60 trains a day change crews. The Safety Committee erected the sign in hopes of channeling peer pressure in a positive direction. For me, it is a breath of fresh air compared to 25 years ago.
Peer Pressure.