{"id":61014,"date":"2025-08-17T10:09:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T00:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/?p=61014"},"modified":"2025-08-17T17:34:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T07:34:02","slug":"61014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tomgrimshaw.com\/tomsblog\/?p=61014","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m a retired electrician"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Retired<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy name\u2019s Frank. I\u2019m 64, a retired electrician.<\/div>\n
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Forty-two years I spent running wires through houses, fixing breakers, making sure people had light in their kitchens and heat in their winters. Never once did anyone ask me where I went to college. Mostly, they just wanted to know if I could get the power back on before their ice cream melted.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Last May, I was at my granddaughter Emily\u2019s school career day. You know the drill \u2014 doctors, lawyers, a software guy in a slick suit talking about \u201cscaling startups.\u201d I was the only one there with a tool belt and work boots.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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When it was my turn, I told the kids, \u201cI don\u2019t have a degree. I\u2019ve never sat in a lecture hall. But I\u2019ve wired schools, hospitals, and your principal\u2019s house. And when the hospital generator failed during a snowstorm in \u201998, I was the one in the basement with a flashlight, keeping the lights on for newborn babies upstairs.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The kids leaned forward. They had questions \u2014 real ones. \u201cHow do you fix stuff in the dark?\u201d \u201cDo you make a lot of money?\u201d \u201cDo you ever get zapped?\u201d (Yes, once, and it\u2019ll curl your hair.)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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When the bell rang, one boy hung back. Small kid, freckles, hoodie too big for him. He mumbled, \u201cMy uncle\u2019s a plumber. People laugh at him \u2019cause he didn\u2019t finish high school. But\u2026 he\u2019s the only one in the family who can fix anything.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I looked that boy in the eye and said, \u201cKid, your uncle\u2019s a hero. When your toilet overflows at midnight, Harvard ain\u2019t sending anyone. A plumber is.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Here\u2019s the thing nobody told me when I was young \u2014 the world doesn\u2019t run without tradespeople. You can have all the engineers you want, but if nobody builds the house, wires the power, or lays the pipes, those blueprints just sit in a drawer.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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We\u2019ve made it sound like trades are what you do if you can\u2019t go to college, instead of a path you choose because you like working with your hands, solving problems, and seeing your work stand solid for decades.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Four years after high school, some kids walk away with diplomas. Others walk away with zero debt, a union card, and a skill they can take anywhere in the world. And guess what? When your furnace dies in January, it\u2019s not the diploma that saves you.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A few weeks ago, that same freckled kid\u2019s mom stopped me at the grocery store. She said, \u201cYou probably don\u2019t remember, but you told my son trades are important. He\u2019s shadowing his uncle this summer. First time I\u2019ve seen him excited about anything in years.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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That\u2019s the part we forget \u2014 for some kids, knowing their path is respected changes everything. It\u2019s not about \u201cjust\u201d fixing wires or pipes. It\u2019s about pride. Purpose. The kind that sticks with you long after the job\u2019s done.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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So next time you meet a teenager, don\u2019t just ask, \u201cWhere are you going to college?\u201d Ask, \u201cWhat\u2019s your plan?\u201d And if they say, \u201cI\u2019m learning to weld,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m starting an apprenticeship,\u201d smile big and say, \u201cThat\u2019s fantastic. We\u2019re going to need you.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Because we will. More than ever. And when the lights go out, you\u2019ll be glad they showed up.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy name\u2019s Frank. I\u2019m 64, a retired electrician. Forty-two years I spent running wires through houses, fixing breakers, making sure people had light in their kitchens and heat in their winters. Never once did anyone ask me where I went to college. Mostly, they just wanted to know if I could get the power back … <\/p>\n

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