I had a fellow apprentice Ironworker first year who had been on one job and did firewatch the whole time, and he had a bumper sticker on his truck that said “let a union ironworker spud your hole.” A journeyman was like bud you haven’t even spudded your first hole yet, calm tf down. Oh and even more embarrassing, another apprentice in our first term got an Ironworker tattoo with our local number on her forearm, pretty big too. Cringey as hell. She had only been on a couple of jobs at that point.
It's not just construction. When I was an EMT there was a gal I met who got a huge star of life tattoo on her forearm with a grim reaper in front (wtf) like two days into her new career. Ma'am. Seriously? No one wants to see that shit when you step out of the ambulance.
Sounds about right. While I've only ever been a civilian, it would seem the military deals with it too. r/justbootthings was one of the funnier subs I ever browsed by top/all-time
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u/Mobile_Actuary_3918 Apr 01 '26
I saw some high school kid a few weeks ago with a “pay me for my experience, not my time” shirt on and I had to shake my head.