Apprentice initiation

[Knobhead]

I don’t know about the domestic side of things, but it’s near universal in the industrial side.

My initiation:

• Christmas, had to sing with the other apprentices to all the workshop staff (plus others), about 100 people in all. Red faces all round! If you didn’t sing you’d be thrown in the blacksmith’s trough.
• Taken to the quarry top and shown in to a blasting hut where we sat down thinking we were just taking shelter from the forthcoming blast. NO, got an exploder and key shoved in my hand, told how to work it. Turned the key and I thought the world had come to an end. The hut seemed to jump up as 100,000 tons of stone erupted.

Every part of the works would have something lined up for you. Some were fun, others frightening. But a couple of years down the line you got to see newbies go through it. One of my favourites was to take a newbie up to a winch room where the winch would set off at full chat and grab a 75-ton load. The floor was mounted on springs so it would shoot down about 6”, usual result would be apprentice kneeling on the floor quivering.

When I went in to the iron industry I was the 40 year old newbie again! I didn’t escape!

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[oxocube]

Not an initiation, but sending apprentices to the wholesaler for a long weight (as in wait) was always a good laugh. And sometimes you'd go in the wholesaler and there was some miserable looking lad standing in the corner, and you ask " is he here for a long wait" reply "yeh, he's been there for an hour so far" lol

 

[Dunc]

One of the guys i used to work with enjoyed handing people the business end of his Megger locked on 500V. He got one apprentice 3 times in one day! Unsurprisingly that apprentice didn't get his qualifications due to failing his exams, definitely not the brightest!

 

[Des 56]

My story was pay back time by the apprentice

Me and a another spark wiring 2 boiler houses about 50 meters apart
There was a 4" heating pipe buried from one to the other and a perfect communication tool

One of us would ask the apprentice to get say, an hacksaw,whilst he was on his way,the spark on the other boiler house was told via the pipe
The apprenice would turn up and be handed the hacksaw before he could ask,this went on for weeks and he was bemused to say the least
Sent him on his way one day and got my mouth into the pipe to pass on the question and the little turd had smeared the pipe in cutting compound

 

[Knobhead]

One of the guys i used to work with enjoyed handing people the business end of his Megger locked on 500V. He got one apprentice 3 times in one day! Unsurprisingly that apprentice didn't get his qualifications due to failing his exams, definitely not the brightest!

Mistake on my part, calling the electrician I worked with a *******.
I arrived a work the next day and thinking I was the first to arrive got my keys out of my pocket and went to the w/shop door, key in lock, grabbed hold of the handle and I’m flat on my back. The ******* had one of the old wind up Meggers connected to the door. Once I got in the shop all the gang were lined up to watch the fun, including the foreman!

 

[Big n Daft]

CRUCIFIED
Thats it, 25mm pipe thro the boiler suit and then hoisted up onto some well placed saddles on the wall.
Or
JOY RIDEING
New start ty'd to van roof rack and taken for a spin at high speed around site.
You'd never get away with it now.......................

 

[malcolmsanford]

Well I was the smart alec that never fell for the long wait. skirting ladders, glass nails or bubble for a spirit level.

So one day at break one of the lads said that he saw a show last night and see a guy do a 3 man lift, well much arguing impossible, bull etc he said he would prove it, young'un (me) lie down, then a lad got beside me and put his right leg over my left and his right arm through mine. Next lad the same on the other side, and the 3rd lad bent down to pick us up, opened my boiler suit and I was tallowed, could not move and well and truly got!!!

 

[oxocube]

Was on a big site when I was an apprentice and there were contnual battles with sparks.

The sparks had comandeered a room to keep their tools and boots etc, and we were'nt allowed to use it. One day, we broke in, emptied all the tool boxes into one big pile. And then shot nailed the tool boxes, safety boots, overalls and anything else we could find to the concrete slab above.

There was hell to pay after that, they could'nt see the funny side. lol

 

[pmac10]

went down the route of good old fashioned kidnap/abduction, some of the squadron would plasticuff and duct tape the victim/apprentice and drive the guy round the airfield to be dumped off at a rival squadron, with a suitable placard, like "9 squadron sucks balls!' or the like, not sure what happened after that.

 

[jay sean]

I have heard about conduit through overalls and tallow on the appentices balls, and others, I was glad when I started that initiations had stopped!!
[h=2][/h]

 

[Knobhead]

I have heard about conduit through overalls and tallow on the appentices balls, and others, I was glad when I started that initiations had stopped!!
[h=2][/h]

Bloody HSE again!

 

[maddfridge]

Bloody HSE again!

hi all

A very young apprentice was also sent to the local wholesaler for a long weight and spirit level bubbles!

My long weight was in the local watching all the engineers for my pending return following a couple of pints on the tab of the foreman who sent me down there! The empty handed apprentice suffered the usual micky taking which was soon swallowed as on friday not only did he have to sign for 38 replacement thelodite spirit level replacement units but he had to stand me the two pints as well!

So all you apprentice micky taking people be aware arty:

 

[Sintra]

Got my arms and legs bound together with large cable ties. Then stripped down to the birthday suit and tallowed (the metal filings were really uncomfortable.) To save my modesty the guys made me a skirt out of that horse hair stuff that the plumbers use when putting a threaded bend onto black iron pipe. Next it was into the back of the van and into Belfast city centre. They stopped the van, cut the cable ties and threw me out into a street packed with shoppers and drove off.
I hid in an entry between shops thinking they would come back and pick me up but after half an hour i gave up on that idea. Had to run to a phone box and make a reverse charge call to my mum to come and rescue me.

 

[Sparkattack]

Used to drive an old banger astra when i was an apprentice. Parked it up in the carpark when i got to work one morining, came back at the end of the day and found my car had been moved by the forklift truck and left on top of one of those big containers that we used to use to store materials. Just happened to be one of those days when i finished late so there was nobody about to help me get it down, ended up calling for a lift to get home!

 

[millwall ken]

Bloody HSE again!

Nah, nothing to do with the HSE, and everything to do with the fact that some miserable gits think its assault!!!

 

[Big n Daft]

Stink bomb under the brake pedal..............
Kipper strapped to the exhuast or heater matrix pipes........
Oh joy, could go on forever.

 

[Big n Daft]

Best one was sending the little bugger to the wholesaler for some 6ft phalopium tubes.

 

[Mr Mike]

Or being sent to the stores for an asbestos bucket to catch the sparks from the grinding wheel.

 

[johnboy6083]

im not an apprentice, but i was gotten good yesterday. a bloke (groundworks foreman) had nicked the sheath of a buried cable. he came in the plant room, and asked me to take a look. I checked it out, and repaired it with self amalgamating tape, as its was due to be ripped out next week anyway, hence why he was exposing it. As i was bent over this cable, he was aksing if i was ok repairing this live cable. I told him it was ok, as only the armour was exposed, but i then grabbed hold of it and pretended to get a bolt. He jumped out of his skin. Later the same day, the power to a socket he was using had tripped. I told him which panel to open to reset tghe breake. He opened it up, and while he was looking inside nervously, i sneaked up behind him and shouted bang. Again he jumsoped out of his skin. I went to the van to grab a drink, and when i walked in the plantroom, he got his lads to wrestle me to the ground, pin me down and gaffer tape me up. as the were trying to taope me up i was making i t real hard work, but they managed to tie me all up. They then pouredwater over me.
It was well worth it though to see the bloke crap himself, especially the cable trick. i actually lay on my back and laughed so hard my belly hurt!

 

[Big n Daft]

Best one was sending the little bugger to the wholesaler for some 6ft phalopium tubes.

Thought you'd like that Kenny.

 

[millwall ken]

Thought you'd like that Kenny.

Oh mate, even the heavily pregnant wife was pee'ing herself at that one... Spot on!

 

[Cyberprog]

To the construction trade... where serious assault is only a hilarious prank away.

 

[hillbillie]

I avoided humiliation, my dad had been an apprentice in the 1950s so he told me all the wind ups. However, in the early 1980s the best wind up I heard one of the Post office/BT apprentices on my intake get done with was being sent to the store for a bucket of blue steam. After 5 minutes searching around the back the storeman came back and said, with an intake of breath; sorry son, we're right out of blue steam but I can get you a bucket of green steam or red steam...

 

[SSOTN]

We had a lad work for us a few years back who somehow managed to qualify, despite his incredible stupidity. Were down the docks, doing a galv tube job, and he comes up and says "Where's the 25mm Galv box lids?" "Pardon...?" "The 25mm Galv box lids??? I can only find the 20mm..." This was a lad who was a good year or so out of his time. Anyhow, we tells him that the big boss man would be down shortly and he always has some in the boot of his car. "Ok, have to wait then won't it." True to his word, boss man turns up in his BMW M5, this lad trotts on up... "Alright boss, you got any 25mm box lids in the boot?", he takes a glance at us, looks back at him, passes him the keys "There is definately a few in there somewhere, have a good look."

When I was a 1st year, the lad a year ahead of me was a bit simple, so he used to get the brunt of it. The day before Christmas eve, only a few guys in on half day, Foreman brings in a big old quiz. Goes around asking dead simple questions, "Whats the capital of Ireland?" "Who won the cup in 76'?" (thats rather easy around here) until he come to this lad... "Whats the scientific symbol for Silver in the Periodic Table?" - "Ummmmmmm... Ummmmmmmmmm... Errrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh.... I don't know Pete." "YOU WHAT!? GET DOWN AND GIVE ME TWENTY!!!" and he did. And they continued until this apprentice must have done 250 press ups, and didn't once question why everyone else was getting the simplest of questions. He never did make the grade.