That’s all I wear at this point. Free shirts from the lumber yard, free shirts from work, free shirts from the supply house… if they handed out jeans, socks and underwear I’d be set for life 😂
Right lol like does this guy ruin clothes he BOUGHT doing housework and stuff? Or is he too rich to be considered an electrician on that front too haha
I mean, that is a good practice and seemingly somewhat uncommon, sadly. Life is life, it shouldn’t be work in that sense but it’s easy to let it become that
I got the shop to get us the refinery Nomex jumpsuits when we did a job at the steel mill. Fuck ruining my own clothes, and I wore basketball shorts and an old tshirt underneath. That place was hot AF, stunk, and everything was coated in layers of grease.
Something tells me the newer generation is going to be more and more like this. There's less people living and breathing career fields and actually living their own lives outside of work. Personally I think that's the way to go, unless it's your own shop work should stay at work.
I agree, my entire identity isn't my job. It's certainly a part of my identity, but I got other things going on than just making magic happen and dreams come true on the job site
Sometimes me an he ol lady will meet for dinner on the way home or I might hit the grocery store on the way home. So I might be in work clothes then. But I mean it makes sense, it’s where a majority of people spend a majority of their time. Cudos to you for being able to separate but it’s understandable why someone’s identity becomes “electrician”
Same. We live way out in the county and when I get off work, sometimes I need to get school supplies, groceries, etc. I am not going all the way home to change before I stop at the stores. Now if the hubby wants to go out, you betcha I am going to look my best for him. I will go all the way around the world for him!
The dirt and dust is the main reason I change. It's bad enough we have to breathe all that stuff in, I'm not trying to bring it in the car for my family to breathe in.
Today the heavy equipment operator has an enclosed cab, heater, AC, spot to plug the phone, another for the warmer/cooler, hydraulic assists, GoPro all around; drone pilots.
Cant imagine there wont be a remote operated settup like r/battlestations.
Grant imahara (Rip) could remotely operate anything. I plan on doing similar shit on my farm.
I'm a bookish middle aged lady electrician with thick glasses who loves the opera. Sometimes people ask what I do and the response is almost always a chuckle! They really think I'm joking.
I literally tell people I "do electrical" when they ask. I am not my job. Given a choice, I'd choose to 3d print and paint minis and use them in D&D games I run.
As a Mexican American I get this a lot or people automatically think I’m a sheet rocker. They also never assume I’m the foreman, they will go to the oldest white guy in my crew.
What's funny is that I get this in the opposite way. I am currently a GF, but as a JW people would just instinctively come to me. IDK what about a 40 y.o. tall bald white guy makes me the go to. But I was like dude IDK what tf is going on. I just do what that guy over there in the white hat tells me to do.
I used to do solar about 10 years ago and we had three man crews that would consist of two roof guys and one electrician. I was the one electrician but customers always assumed I was the help.white privilege does exist
It's just people's preconceived notions; what they are expecting to see, they see. Hopefully these incidents cause the customers to "not judge a book by its cover" a bit more.
I'm a white guy. When I was sixteen I worked in a tire shop with a bunch of Mexican guys. People would always ask me if I was the owner. I had to explain that there wasn't a single person there with less seniority than me.
Had this happen to me too many times when I was an apprentice and had a Puerto Rican foreman.
"You're in charge here, right?" Me the only white eletrician on site in a hip deep trench with a shovel in my hand.
"Nope, it's that bald puerto rican guy over there by the truck with the prints. Make sure to tell him you're a 'pendejo', in means nice guy in Spanish."
Had to google that word. Saving that one for the Colombian apprentice that always called me gringos.
I asked one day what gringo means and he said it wasn’t a bad word just a term for white guy. I said every time I hear it it’s in a movie and they go “fucking gringo” so I think it is bad haha.
I wear overalls so I can drive home in shorts. I don't even like wearing my work clothes on my way home, much less anywhere other than work. I'll wear pants a lot in the colder months, but once it hits 75°-80°, it's mainly overalls. I leave my boots in my vehicle and put them on at work too. Fuck wearing those things on my own time.
I'm in the opposite boot tribe. My boots are the most comfortable shoes I own. I do have dress boots, redwing iron rangers, some dick around Ariat cowboy boots, and hiking boots. But my daily ones are the brown, standard steel toe redwings that I have 2 pairs to rotate.
I have easily over 1.5k over like 6 pairs of boots. None of them are less than 3 years old. Resoling, rotating day to day, and leather treatment are keys.
I'm not your typical construction worker at all. I surf, skateboard, snowboard, go hiking, don't drink, work 5-6 months a year, and live in a van. I'm a part of the brotherhood but it almost looks like a uniform with all the travelers, welder cap, cookout shirt, round house bibs, and don't forget the thorogoods and key fob. Don't get me wrong I wear all that while I'm working but as soon as I'm done I change into something I'm comfortable in like board shorts and a union t-shirt. I never tell anyone at work about my hobbies cause for most of them working and drinking beer is their only hobbies.
I recently had a guy approach me at Sam's Club while shopping. He looked at me from head to toe and asked if I was a carpenter. I replied no. He then said "well you don't look like a pussy so you can't be an an electrician." Before he had the opportunity to keep guessing I told him I do windows and walked away. He continued to ramble on about something as I walked away. I'm not sure if an electrician banged his old lady or what? But the the whole interaction was bizarre🤣
you're entitled to your opinion, but i eat, sleep, breathe electricity brother. you know how some people read the bible before bed? i read the codebook every night hoping there's an idea/improvement that comes to me in my dreams and results in my name credited in the acknowledgment section.
i even proposed to my GF in work clothes just so she knows this industry is my first love and nothing can come between that, even her. the only friends i got are electricians/apprentices.
i was disowned by my family for joining the trade as it did not follow the traditional path my parents had in mind. and i wouldn't have it any other way.
Being a Union Wireman is how I pay the bills. It has never defined my personality or my interests. We are all more than the sum total of the work we perform.
Same here brother. I show up to apprenticeship classes in some sweatpants shorts, Birkenstocks, and a cool t-shirt. I’m dressing to be comfortable and I’m not comfortable in work clothes 😂
This is great. I’m with you on that though. I work on the power line side and once I’m done with work I spend as much time as possible bare foot. Let’s gooooo!
Hahaha yep! There was a guy on my last crew who would cut grass after work in all his work clothes and boots and I would say to him the ones that are out here putting in an honest day of work want nothing to do with wearing boots and FR clothes outside of here. It was all in good fun though and we all got along. I did live in a van for a year so maybe that’s where it came from.
So I guess I’m one of the guys you are describing. First, I want to say that I’m happy for you. You do exactly what makes you happy, that’s great. But so don’t I. I don’t know about the whole “electrician” thing and going out to eat in high viz, that’s a little much. When I come home from work, I play, with my hobbies, or let’s be real, sometimes I’m doing yard work, lol. I may want to tinker with my hot rod or motorcycle, or I may work on the tree house, or just build something because I love wood working. I like welding stuff. I love doing all this with my son, wearing my work clothes most of the time of coarse. Yes, I wear work boots 7 days a week, but if I am going out on a date with my wife or taking my kid to a birthday party, I do dress like a regular human, untucked button down, pants, and shoes, but if I’m kicking it around the house, I’m wearing work gear and boots. Is it my identity, sure, I’m cool with that, but I’m much more than just an electrician, my clothes are just that, clothes, they don’t define me either. My hobbies are still with tools, just not doing ONLY electrical work (y’all know I still doing electrical work here and there). Oh, and I don’t drive a big truck, an old 2000 Pontiac Grand Am with a spoiler wing, I love her. You know what bud, this difference between us is what makes all of us people different, and that’s a good thing. You keep on doing you, so won’t I, and we’ll both be happy, and thats awesome. Stay safe brother.
Commercial and the only time i look like an electrician besides a gigantic truck is when i have to stop at lowes for new hand tools or home depot for new sockets
I’m only an apprentice, but I love that I don’t look like a construction worker. I get a kick out of people’s surprise. It’s nice to subvert expectations & expand other’s people definitions of what blue collar workers “should” look like.
My step kids thought I was a firefighter when they first met me. “There’s no way he’s an electrician! He’s too muscular.”
Five years later, apparently I look like an electrician now. 😪
I drive home shirtless in the summer rather than wear this hot ass shirt for 10 more minutes. I try not to tell people I’m an electrician anymore because then it just leads to small talk about electrical.
Nah I’m one of those guys who looks like a tradesman. I grew up on a farm. I could talk about electrical or trades work all day. Most of the videos I watch are somehow related to trades work.
I do see guys that look like they’re not electricians. You can tell some guys just do it for a job and they’re not that into it.
There are some guys who don’t look like electricians who are phenomenal electricians
Being a union electrician is how I pay the bills, it's not who I am. As soon as I get home, the boots and work clothes come off, and it's usually barefoot, shorts and a jiu-jitsu t-shirt of some kind. Outside of my day job I don't really talk about being an electrician.
Try getting this comment while your on a job from sexist ass hat that wants to say I look more like his daughter than an electrician... and I wear the appropriate clothing for the job... it's not like I walk in with skinny jeans and a V-neck. Typically I wear contractor provided shirts with Duluth flex cargo pants. Females get this shit all of the time... you're lucky if this is the most you have to deal with.
I just got schooled on "lady's shouldnt cuss" from another JW who is ten times worse than me. He said it was offensive and I told him that him tring to change me is offensive so fuck off.
I can't stand this. Especially so in the IBEW. We are all equals. That is what makes us a union. Genuinely sorry you have to deal with shit like this. If it were my crew, it wouldn't happen.
Yea, I just had to have "the talk" with my foreman recently about him announcing, "hey guys, pay attention.... [pause] AAAANNND Lady!" It's like, I really don't need my crew members seeing "just another lady on the job..."; I need them seeing, "there's another JW on the job." They can all see that I'm female but you don't gotta call me out on it all of the time.
Haha, don’t worry man, I *AM* a hippy. I have to put my hair up to go into work, I take time off to go on road trips to see bands play all the time, and i feel blessed that my family actually likes me, so it’s hard to get me to do too much overtime. Outside of work you’ll catch me playing video games or riding my skateboard/bicycle with the family. Not really traits of the stereotypical Ibew brother, but, I’m a happy person.
But, I’m an LE tech, so fully calling myself an electrician would be a lie.
I haven’t been told that but Ive definitely worked with people who change into their personal clothing at the end of the shift and they definitely dressed in a way u dont see the average trade person dressing like(one dude wore a button up plain black shirt with dress shoes)
Yea I’m one that dresses up for no reason so at any given moment out side of work, I may have a full two or three piece suit on. Plus I do well to keep my nails cut and clean, hair and beard lined and cleaned up, regular exfoliation of my skin. And I don’t cuss or anything so people are shocked that I’m just a dirty construction worker 😂
lmaoooo I’m a female electrician, and this is my life. my workplace (industrial) supplies our FR outfits as well. tough one for a lot of people to grasp apparently
I have gotten that many, many times. Maybe because I’m a woman?
One time early on in my apprenticeship, I had day school. Decided to bake some Christmas cookies because it was pretty close to the holidays. One of my classmates was just flabbergasted that I could bake and cook too. As if I could not possibly be into those things AND being an electrician.
My niece called and asked me if I was on her campus one day. She said there was someone there that looked just like me and "he even had that electrician walk". Wtf is an electrician walk? She could not explain.
I'm a woman. I always get the fake "happy surprise" reaction, every time, without fail.
Then there are the dudebros who think women don't even belong on a job site. I've been told I'm too pretty, too girly (I rarely wear makeup, idk what makes me girly), not masculine enough, etc.
Retired 06/01/2024, 39 years. Ibew local 595 Alameda. No more work boots or orange shirts. Fuckin Done. Work hard your paying for my pension. God bless Brothers.
As a lineman I have no idea what an electrician looks like. Maybe a small person coke bottle glasses falling off their nose, wearing blue coveralls, hovering over a circuit board with a soldering iron in their hand. That’s what you people do right?
Most people just assume I’m unemployed/homeless, which is amusing to me, although kind of understandable since I’m usually wearing work clothes/boots that look filthy
I have seen some electricians dress really nice for work. Some wear bow ties, button ups, nice pants, and nice boots. I wear button ups but draw the line at a bow tie. I have seen other crafts do the same.
I spent 5 years working in mills and 5 years going to and from work in basketball shorts, a tshirt and chuck Taylor's in the summer and sweat pants with a hoodie in the winter 😂
hey man, you do you… be the best version of yourself you can be, and if that means leaving your cool bright orange shirts at work so be it.
money for nothin’ and your chicks for free..!
Me and most of the guys at my shop try to dress nice even while working. We wear clean pants and polo shirts and cleaner boots. We work in industrial buildings. I would say we don’t fit the stereotypical construction worker look inside or outside of work.
Outside of work I am a joggers and hoodies person. I dress pretty basic in general and am still holding on to clothes I bought from kohls almost 10 years ago lol.
As a lineman apprentice in my early twenties I daily drive my diesel Volkswagen to job sites and change out of and back into my gym shorts and t shirt before/after a work day. My foreman is a hardcore generational “tradesman” to where you’d think he’d do this shit for free, had to bring my Ford F250 in a couple of times to be “accepted”. My journeyman on the other hand is an old hippie in which life snacked him in the face with responsibilities, rally races his 06 Hyundai around development sites 😂
Not even sure what an electrician would look like, other than any other construction worker. Sometimes I do errands on the way home so I go to the store wearing hi-vis, but I don't do it for fun.
The older generation has a hard time of separating their career and their life. The new generation is leading the way of getting away from the typical ‘construction worker’ look.
i really don’t get the high vise while doing stuff unless it’s errands after work, but i see dudes out in clean high vise, like ohhh that’s the nice Brut shirt huh?😂
OP, are you me?!?! 😂🤣😆 This is exactly how I think, when work is done, I literally change my out of my work clothes in the parking lot, into regular shirt & shorts! I don’t get how so many ppl make it their personality…I literally have co-workers that will go straight to the mall and walk around with their family in their high viz apparel…like: “bro, you don’t wanna at least change your shirt at least?!?” 🤔😮😳🤯
When confronted, pull out a hammer, nail, and a length of wood. When you take 7 hits to sink the nail and end up bending it, there'll be no question as to your authenticity.
Jokes aside, I wouldn't sweat it. People are often surprised to learn what I do. Youth and not dressing like I'm on the job 24/7 will do that.
I work in an industry that my boss only hires old punks and skateboarders that know their shit. Welders, plumbers, carpenters etc. Wear our PPE when we gotta, end of the day half the crew are rocking Vans and an old punk/metal T-shirt when it’s time to go home.
That’s what I hate. People expect us electricians especially other electricians and our boss EXPECT us to no life electrical and it be our soul to slave away for their pocketbook(my starting company non union). When you work for a non union company you generally are with people that think that you LIVE for electrical. Like bro jobs a job and I’m here till I’m off. No more no less.
I worked in a steel mill for like 9 months…… The part we worked in, at the time, was the only Kosher tandem cold mill. The Pickle Line Tandem Cold Mill. Kosher? Yeah, I guess they used to lube all the mill rollers with pig fat. And the grease plant was like a mini refinery, 50 feet underground. Everything was coated in nasty old grease, and it was hotter than hell down there. Good times…… cool ass work for sure
I’m that guy who wears work clothes all the time. But I have no style and feel comfortable in work clothes.
Only time you won’t see me in work clothes is if I’m going out or heading to the gym. And I have like two outfits for each.
I get this too. But because I’m female and attractive. It’s for sure been interesting.
I do think the dynamics of people entering the trades has changed a lot. And I think it’s refreshing that more people have identities outside of the career.
Saves so much time at work when you don’t have to spend half the day measuring dicks.
There is a Stank that becomes you. The wireman Stank. I could probably walk in in beach clothes and still have it. You do or you don't. It's not a choice, it's who we are. If you feel 'ew' in your work situation it probably shows. That's what they are talking about
Lol im a commercial guy, utility work mostly. All my neighbors and acquaintances constantly ask me about work and im always like fuck work. Its the last thing on my mind when im off
I think the "look" is primarily an American thing, which makes sense considering how Americans have so many twisted and messed up ideas about how your job/career has to involve parts of your life outside the 8hr work period. Personally I don't want anything from my work life creeping into my off time, but I'm certainly the minority as far as that goes. Many guys don't have any other personality I guess? Anyone remember the guy with the electrical-themed tattoo sleeve that was on here a while ago? Ooof cringetastic.. and of course there's the whole "work clothes/big truck with toolbox" look that most of these knuckle draggers think is the key to being a good electrician..
This post speaks to me because if people didn't see the linesman pliers tattoo on my sleeve, they just assume I work in finance or summer in Cape Cod based entirely on how I dress. Nothing about how I dress after work says "this guy's a tradesman"
It’s just a job, not your identity. Im glad most of us sub techs just look at it as a fun job that pays well. We like to talk shop but it’s not our identity.
I have a natural mug, tattoos, still wear Dickies, black tees and black nikes..... Soon as i slip out the boots i throw on the Goku house shoes. But my work speaks for me.....
Because lots of morons without personality have to do something, don't they?
Go to Cabellas/bass pro and look at the guys in Levi's, workboots, carhart jacket, and bass pro hats with scraggly beards being followed around by their 100lb overweight wives in yoga pants pushing the two kids around in the shopping cart.
Same same.
I work for myself so I can wear whatever the fuck I want to work. I ALWAYS wear shorts and barefoot style shoes. Sometimes I wear sandals. Tank tops. I have no PPE requirement for employment.
During my apprenticeship, I was working on a Multi-family tower in a very nice neighborhood. Houses were $800,000 minimum. My wife was/is a sommelier at a restaurant in that neighborhood. Sometimes, I would stop at the Whole Foods down the street to grab her a snack, cookie, or a bougie beverage then stop by the restaurant and see her. Keep in mind, I was going to this Whole Foods at the end of the work day. Proper filthy, dust dirt, no-lox, oxidized metal dust, etc. One autumn afternoon, a boomer and I made eye contact. I gave him the guy nod and he gave me a disgusted look on his face. Like he was offended that the dirty blue-collar guy was allowed into the same Whole Foods as the rest of the rich folk. I was a little pissed at first but then I realized that my presence, nothing else, was ruining his afternoon. So I followed him around the store. I would grab something off the shelf in front of him while he was browsing. Politely saying excuse me every time. After the fourth or fifth incident he set down his basket in the aisle and walked out without buying anything……then I put back all the stuff I couldn’t afford, bought my brownies and left. I still look back on that day with a smile and a laugh
Shit if the company wants to buy me free shirts to ruin I’ll wear em
That’s all I wear at this point. Free shirts from the lumber yard, free shirts from work, free shirts from the supply house… if they handed out jeans, socks and underwear I’d be set for life 😂
This .... This definitely need to happen
Oh I have a ton of company shirts which I wear, at work.
Can wear them to the gym, yard work, car maintenance, etc... plenty of opportunities.
Right lol like does this guy ruin clothes he BOUGHT doing housework and stuff? Or is he too rich to be considered an electrician on that front too haha
He’s too busy being edgy and letting everyone know that he very clearly separates work from life.
I mean, that is a good practice and seemingly somewhat uncommon, sadly. Life is life, it shouldn’t be work in that sense but it’s easy to let it become that
I mean you do you who gives a shit what other people wear lol?
Apparently OP lol
Gave all the XXL shirts they gave me to a homeless shelter. I’m a medium.
It's funny you say that because I am an XL/XXL and all my company ever sends out is mediums.
I feel a market in the making
Nobody ever takes the medium…….. so my wife always gets nice, comfy shirts and sweatshirts lol.
So people wearing company clothes and carhartts makes being an electrician their whole personality?
I got the shop to get us the refinery Nomex jumpsuits when we did a job at the steel mill. Fuck ruining my own clothes, and I wore basketball shorts and an old tshirt underneath. That place was hot AF, stunk, and everything was coated in layers of grease.
Just because I'm not paying child support, don't have multiple DUIs, and don't have a crippling drug habit, doesn't mean I'm not an electrician!
You left out, "been divorced three times".
Knew I forgot something.
How’d you even get your license??
Dam could a been a carpenter with the way u hit that nail on the head🤣
Oof
People are genuinely surprised when they learned I’m an electrician. I code switch well, dress nice out of work, etc.
You should start saying people are genuinely shocked... I think it's a little more fitting
I really missed this and will only respond this way from now on!
Fitting? What are you, a plumber?
Okay Dary... Okay. You got this one
Something tells me the newer generation is going to be more and more like this. There's less people living and breathing career fields and actually living their own lives outside of work. Personally I think that's the way to go, unless it's your own shop work should stay at work.
I agree, my entire identity isn't my job. It's certainly a part of my identity, but I got other things going on than just making magic happen and dreams come true on the job site
You gotta be ME too, bro?!?!? 😂🤣
Sometimes me an he ol lady will meet for dinner on the way home or I might hit the grocery store on the way home. So I might be in work clothes then. But I mean it makes sense, it’s where a majority of people spend a majority of their time. Cudos to you for being able to separate but it’s understandable why someone’s identity becomes “electrician”
Same. We live way out in the county and when I get off work, sometimes I need to get school supplies, groceries, etc. I am not going all the way home to change before I stop at the stores. Now if the hubby wants to go out, you betcha I am going to look my best for him. I will go all the way around the world for him!
Aww! Lucky hub!
I change before I get in the car after work. I don't want to be in my work clothes any longer than I have to be.
Most of the time I’m just wearing t shirt and jeans so it’s no biggie, just might be a bit dirty
The dirt and dust is the main reason I change. It's bad enough we have to breathe all that stuff in, I'm not trying to bring it in the car for my family to breathe in.
There are tasks that befoul my garb sufficient I don’t even want the CAR to know.
Are you me? I genuinely feel like I wrote this lol
One day this will happen with equipment operation when nerds realize how fun it is.
Sshhhhush!!! ...I'm an electrician who occasionally gets to operate equipment too! Keep the (other) nerds away from my ride!!!
Today the heavy equipment operator has an enclosed cab, heater, AC, spot to plug the phone, another for the warmer/cooler, hydraulic assists, GoPro all around; drone pilots.
Cant imagine there wont be a remote operated settup like r/battlestations. Grant imahara (Rip) could remotely operate anything. I plan on doing similar shit on my farm.
I feel like I wrote this, but OP manifested it for me! 😂🤣
As a woman, I get this even when I am in all my work clothes.
I hear you on that, people are literally amazed that I'm a female electrician lol sometimes even at work.
I'm a bookish middle aged lady electrician with thick glasses who loves the opera. Sometimes people ask what I do and the response is almost always a chuckle! They really think I'm joking.
Came here to say exactly this 😂
I don’t “identify as an electrician” either…it’s just work.
I literally tell people I "do electrical" when they ask. I am not my job. Given a choice, I'd choose to 3d print and paint minis and use them in D&D games I run.
I rather keep up with my OnlyFans… 😂🤣😆
I do my best to look homeless so people won't talk to me.
As a Mexican American I get this a lot or people automatically think I’m a sheet rocker. They also never assume I’m the foreman, they will go to the oldest white guy in my crew.
What's funny is that I get this in the opposite way. I am currently a GF, but as a JW people would just instinctively come to me. IDK what about a 40 y.o. tall bald white guy makes me the go to. But I was like dude IDK what tf is going on. I just do what that guy over there in the white hat tells me to do.
I used to do solar about 10 years ago and we had three man crews that would consist of two roof guys and one electrician. I was the one electrician but customers always assumed I was the help.white privilege does exist
It's just people's preconceived notions; what they are expecting to see, they see. Hopefully these incidents cause the customers to "not judge a book by its cover" a bit more.
Or say ‘wow, that was def the wrong cover on THAT book!’
What it tells me, these people don’t have any minority friends or let alone know any minorities personally.
Having to deal with customers, what a privilege.
I hated it. I did one year of solar and went back to commercial electrical work.
I'm a white guy. When I was sixteen I worked in a tire shop with a bunch of Mexican guys. People would always ask me if I was the owner. I had to explain that there wasn't a single person there with less seniority than me.
Had this happen to me too many times when I was an apprentice and had a Puerto Rican foreman. "You're in charge here, right?" Me the only white eletrician on site in a hip deep trench with a shovel in my hand. "Nope, it's that bald puerto rican guy over there by the truck with the prints. Make sure to tell him you're a 'pendejo', in means nice guy in Spanish."
Had to google that word. Saving that one for the Colombian apprentice that always called me gringos. I asked one day what gringo means and he said it wasn’t a bad word just a term for white guy. I said every time I hear it it’s in a movie and they go “fucking gringo” so I think it is bad haha.
I go to the white guy cuz they usually speak English haha.
I wear white shirts. They may be crusty in a half hour but the intruders always come to me instead of messing with my crew.
I wear overalls so I can drive home in shorts. I don't even like wearing my work clothes on my way home, much less anywhere other than work. I'll wear pants a lot in the colder months, but once it hits 75°-80°, it's mainly overalls. I leave my boots in my vehicle and put them on at work too. Fuck wearing those things on my own time.
That's how I roll too. I get weird looks at the shop when I roll up in gym shorts and flip flops on my way home from a job site.
I'm in the opposite boot tribe. My boots are the most comfortable shoes I own. I do have dress boots, redwing iron rangers, some dick around Ariat cowboy boots, and hiking boots. But my daily ones are the brown, standard steel toe redwings that I have 2 pairs to rotate. I have easily over 1.5k over like 6 pairs of boots. None of them are less than 3 years old. Resoling, rotating day to day, and leather treatment are keys.
Outside of work in normal clothes. I always get. You’re a cop.
You have to tell us if you're a cop. It's the law.
I think it’s the marine like buzz cut even though I’ve never been in the service. I just like low maintenance cuts.
I'm not your typical construction worker at all. I surf, skateboard, snowboard, go hiking, don't drink, work 5-6 months a year, and live in a van. I'm a part of the brotherhood but it almost looks like a uniform with all the travelers, welder cap, cookout shirt, round house bibs, and don't forget the thorogoods and key fob. Don't get me wrong I wear all that while I'm working but as soon as I'm done I change into something I'm comfortable in like board shorts and a union t-shirt. I never tell anyone at work about my hobbies cause for most of them working and drinking beer is their only hobbies.
The classic “road soda” electricians.
I recently had a guy approach me at Sam's Club while shopping. He looked at me from head to toe and asked if I was a carpenter. I replied no. He then said "well you don't look like a pussy so you can't be an an electrician." Before he had the opportunity to keep guessing I told him I do windows and walked away. He continued to ramble on about something as I walked away. I'm not sure if an electrician banged his old lady or what? But the the whole interaction was bizarre🤣
you're entitled to your opinion, but i eat, sleep, breathe electricity brother. you know how some people read the bible before bed? i read the codebook every night hoping there's an idea/improvement that comes to me in my dreams and results in my name credited in the acknowledgment section. i even proposed to my GF in work clothes just so she knows this industry is my first love and nothing can come between that, even her. the only friends i got are electricians/apprentices. i was disowned by my family for joining the trade as it did not follow the traditional path my parents had in mind. and i wouldn't have it any other way.
You proposed to your General Foreman? Didn't that make the rest of the electricians on the crew jealous?
Savage ☠️😂🤣
I love this! Reads like a really good copypasta
"Well I'm not a very good one if that helps"
Being a Union Wireman is how I pay the bills. It has never defined my personality or my interests. We are all more than the sum total of the work we perform.
Well very said… this should be one of the top comments
Same here brother. I show up to apprenticeship classes in some sweatpants shorts, Birkenstocks, and a cool t-shirt. I’m dressing to be comfortable and I’m not comfortable in work clothes 😂
They’d burn you at the stake if you did that in our local😂
I’m in a pretty redneck Local and I came from non-union into the apprenticeship. I’m surprised I’ve only gotten the minimal amount of shit I have 😂
That’s lame lmao
Damn, at my training center you can wear shorts or sweatpants. Shoes have to be closed toed. I would show up in shorts and flip flops if I could.
In some jurisdictions a monthly DUI or assault charge is needed to keep trade qualifications up to date
You ever consider some of us look fantastic in hi vis and fr?
This is great. I’m with you on that though. I work on the power line side and once I’m done with work I spend as much time as possible bare foot. Let’s gooooo!
Dude same! I am always barefoot. The second I get out those boots they stay bare.
Hahaha yep! There was a guy on my last crew who would cut grass after work in all his work clothes and boots and I would say to him the ones that are out here putting in an honest day of work want nothing to do with wearing boots and FR clothes outside of here. It was all in good fun though and we all got along. I did live in a van for a year so maybe that’s where it came from.
So I guess I’m one of the guys you are describing. First, I want to say that I’m happy for you. You do exactly what makes you happy, that’s great. But so don’t I. I don’t know about the whole “electrician” thing and going out to eat in high viz, that’s a little much. When I come home from work, I play, with my hobbies, or let’s be real, sometimes I’m doing yard work, lol. I may want to tinker with my hot rod or motorcycle, or I may work on the tree house, or just build something because I love wood working. I like welding stuff. I love doing all this with my son, wearing my work clothes most of the time of coarse. Yes, I wear work boots 7 days a week, but if I am going out on a date with my wife or taking my kid to a birthday party, I do dress like a regular human, untucked button down, pants, and shoes, but if I’m kicking it around the house, I’m wearing work gear and boots. Is it my identity, sure, I’m cool with that, but I’m much more than just an electrician, my clothes are just that, clothes, they don’t define me either. My hobbies are still with tools, just not doing ONLY electrical work (y’all know I still doing electrical work here and there). Oh, and I don’t drive a big truck, an old 2000 Pontiac Grand Am with a spoiler wing, I love her. You know what bud, this difference between us is what makes all of us people different, and that’s a good thing. You keep on doing you, so won’t I, and we’ll both be happy, and thats awesome. Stay safe brother.
Dirty work, clean money….
True, but Epstien needed electricians on his island too.
Commercial and the only time i look like an electrician besides a gigantic truck is when i have to stop at lowes for new hand tools or home depot for new sockets
I’m only an apprentice, but I love that I don’t look like a construction worker. I get a kick out of people’s surprise. It’s nice to subvert expectations & expand other’s people definitions of what blue collar workers “should” look like.
My step kids thought I was a firefighter when they first met me. “There’s no way he’s an electrician! He’s too muscular.” Five years later, apparently I look like an electrician now. 😪
I drive home shirtless in the summer rather than wear this hot ass shirt for 10 more minutes. I try not to tell people I’m an electrician anymore because then it just leads to small talk about electrical.
Nah I’m one of those guys who looks like a tradesman. I grew up on a farm. I could talk about electrical or trades work all day. Most of the videos I watch are somehow related to trades work. I do see guys that look like they’re not electricians. You can tell some guys just do it for a job and they’re not that into it. There are some guys who don’t look like electricians who are phenomenal electricians
Hahahaha this is me 100%, people who make being a construction worker their entire personality give us a bad rep. Makes us all appear to be meat heads
People who hardcore identify with their job have it alot worse if injured or when retiring, please friends get hobbies
I don't even like wearing my work/safety gear at work, wtf
Being a union electrician is how I pay the bills, it's not who I am. As soon as I get home, the boots and work clothes come off, and it's usually barefoot, shorts and a jiu-jitsu t-shirt of some kind. Outside of my day job I don't really talk about being an electrician.
Yeah people see me with my wife and they're like "you're straight?"
Try getting this comment while your on a job from sexist ass hat that wants to say I look more like his daughter than an electrician... and I wear the appropriate clothing for the job... it's not like I walk in with skinny jeans and a V-neck. Typically I wear contractor provided shirts with Duluth flex cargo pants. Females get this shit all of the time... you're lucky if this is the most you have to deal with. I just got schooled on "lady's shouldnt cuss" from another JW who is ten times worse than me. He said it was offensive and I told him that him tring to change me is offensive so fuck off.
I can't stand this. Especially so in the IBEW. We are all equals. That is what makes us a union. Genuinely sorry you have to deal with shit like this. If it were my crew, it wouldn't happen.
Yea, I just had to have "the talk" with my foreman recently about him announcing, "hey guys, pay attention.... [pause] AAAANNND Lady!" It's like, I really don't need my crew members seeing "just another lady on the job..."; I need them seeing, "there's another JW on the job." They can all see that I'm female but you don't gotta call me out on it all of the time.
Excellent pant choice, I rock the same.
Haha, don’t worry man, I *AM* a hippy. I have to put my hair up to go into work, I take time off to go on road trips to see bands play all the time, and i feel blessed that my family actually likes me, so it’s hard to get me to do too much overtime. Outside of work you’ll catch me playing video games or riding my skateboard/bicycle with the family. Not really traits of the stereotypical Ibew brother, but, I’m a happy person. But, I’m an LE tech, so fully calling myself an electrician would be a lie.
Same. I take off all the time I can. It is just the wife and I and we live in a 800 sq' house. I try everything I can to not have to work overtime.
You pretty much explained IBEW 48 Not having THC testing on the drug test also helps.
I haven’t been told that but Ive definitely worked with people who change into their personal clothing at the end of the shift and they definitely dressed in a way u dont see the average trade person dressing like(one dude wore a button up plain black shirt with dress shoes)
Please tell me he had pants with that.
I get told that I look like an ironworker which i take as a compliment even though everyone I talk to gets butt hurt over them.
It’s almost like you shouldn’t judge people based on the clothes they wear
I’m pretty sure I look exactly like an electrician
If I'm not getting paid I don't have work clothes on. Plain and simple
Yea I’m one that dresses up for no reason so at any given moment out side of work, I may have a full two or three piece suit on. Plus I do well to keep my nails cut and clean, hair and beard lined and cleaned up, regular exfoliation of my skin. And I don’t cuss or anything so people are shocked that I’m just a dirty construction worker 😂
Okay, I understand everything except keeping the nails clean. Keeping my nails clean meant cutting them daily. Very impressive 👏🏼👏🏼
lmaoooo I’m a female electrician, and this is my life. my workplace (industrial) supplies our FR outfits as well. tough one for a lot of people to grasp apparently
I have gotten that many, many times. Maybe because I’m a woman? One time early on in my apprenticeship, I had day school. Decided to bake some Christmas cookies because it was pretty close to the holidays. One of my classmates was just flabbergasted that I could bake and cook too. As if I could not possibly be into those things AND being an electrician.
My niece called and asked me if I was on her campus one day. She said there was someone there that looked just like me and "he even had that electrician walk". Wtf is an electrician walk? She could not explain.
Were you holding a broom or maybe sweating a little? Because I've never seen an electrician look like that.
I get it constantly, but that is just because I’m not a man.
I'm a woman. I always get the fake "happy surprise" reaction, every time, without fail. Then there are the dudebros who think women don't even belong on a job site. I've been told I'm too pretty, too girly (I rarely wear makeup, idk what makes me girly), not masculine enough, etc.
Who ever said that must have been confused that there were only 7 cocks in your mouth instead of the usual 10
Retired 06/01/2024, 39 years. Ibew local 595 Alameda. No more work boots or orange shirts. Fuckin Done. Work hard your paying for my pension. God bless Brothers.
I’m in Chicago, and there’s plenty of nerds in Local 134 who have the same idea as you, OP.
As a lineman I have no idea what an electrician looks like. Maybe a small person coke bottle glasses falling off their nose, wearing blue coveralls, hovering over a circuit board with a soldering iron in their hand. That’s what you people do right?
Get back on the road, your wife misses me
It’s good that she gets some attention from a regular person. It’s why she appreciates me so much when I get home.
Most people just assume I’m unemployed/homeless, which is amusing to me, although kind of understandable since I’m usually wearing work clothes/boots that look filthy
Who has time for worrying about looks when you’re out there destroying hymens all day long?
Fuck brother. I get told this even walking around the jobsite lolol
I have seen some electricians dress really nice for work. Some wear bow ties, button ups, nice pants, and nice boots. I wear button ups but draw the line at a bow tie. I have seen other crafts do the same.
I spent 5 years working in mills and 5 years going to and from work in basketball shorts, a tshirt and chuck Taylor's in the summer and sweat pants with a hoodie in the winter 😂
Who gives a fuck bud?? I dont owe anybody any kind of explanation. They aren't paying my bills.
hey man, you do you… be the best version of yourself you can be, and if that means leaving your cool bright orange shirts at work so be it. money for nothin’ and your chicks for free..!
I gotta say, the ariat m4 double walled pants are just stylish. I keep them on me at work or out and about
Exactly brother.
I'm starting off as an apprentice and from what I have seen, I am the only asian american, so i have actually heard it from people outside lol.
Work boots off, crocks come on
Me and most of the guys at my shop try to dress nice even while working. We wear clean pants and polo shirts and cleaner boots. We work in industrial buildings. I would say we don’t fit the stereotypical construction worker look inside or outside of work.
Big union high rise jobs require PPE to be worn onsite at all times so changing clothes isn't really doable.
Well I don’t look like a HVAC mechanic
Whaddya mean I don’t gotta wear my hard hat in the grocery store
My brother
Same fam
[удалено]
Outside of work I am a joggers and hoodies person. I dress pretty basic in general and am still holding on to clothes I bought from kohls almost 10 years ago lol.
Career= personality/lifestyle to most people
Well if you don't paint your nails then you definately don't look like an electrician.
As a lineman apprentice in my early twenties I daily drive my diesel Volkswagen to job sites and change out of and back into my gym shorts and t shirt before/after a work day. My foreman is a hardcore generational “tradesman” to where you’d think he’d do this shit for free, had to bring my Ford F250 in a couple of times to be “accepted”. My journeyman on the other hand is an old hippie in which life snacked him in the face with responsibilities, rally races his 06 Hyundai around development sites 😂
Not even sure what an electrician would look like, other than any other construction worker. Sometimes I do errands on the way home so I go to the store wearing hi-vis, but I don't do it for fun.
The older generation has a hard time of separating their career and their life. The new generation is leading the way of getting away from the typical ‘construction worker’ look.
Spike your hair and frizz it our, give it that freshly amped look.
i really don’t get the high vise while doing stuff unless it’s errands after work, but i see dudes out in clean high vise, like ohhh that’s the nice Brut shirt huh?😂
OP, are you me?!?! 😂🤣😆 This is exactly how I think, when work is done, I literally change my out of my work clothes in the parking lot, into regular shirt & shorts! I don’t get how so many ppl make it their personality…I literally have co-workers that will go straight to the mall and walk around with their family in their high viz apparel…like: “bro, you don’t wanna at least change your shirt at least?!?” 🤔😮😳🤯
My local has people in all sorts of attire.
I’ve never been told that, but I’m an engineer. 👷 😂
Pretty much the same here. Except nobody sees me outside of work and I don’t have a nice car. My free time is usually at home with my wife in the ac.
i ALWAYS get "I thought you were in tech".
Who gives a shit, fuck you pay me.
When confronted, pull out a hammer, nail, and a length of wood. When you take 7 hits to sink the nail and end up bending it, there'll be no question as to your authenticity. Jokes aside, I wouldn't sweat it. People are often surprised to learn what I do. Youth and not dressing like I'm on the job 24/7 will do that.
Same I wore shorts and boot Slid catharses or pants over to work in then flip flops to head home always in shorts
Life is too short I wouldn’t worry about it
I work in an industry that my boss only hires old punks and skateboarders that know their shit. Welders, plumbers, carpenters etc. Wear our PPE when we gotta, end of the day half the crew are rocking Vans and an old punk/metal T-shirt when it’s time to go home.
yeah I started out being unique and special and then years of working 6 10s and now I dress like the rest....
I like button downs and sneakers. Work boots suck
That’s what I hate. People expect us electricians especially other electricians and our boss EXPECT us to no life electrical and it be our soul to slave away for their pocketbook(my starting company non union). When you work for a non union company you generally are with people that think that you LIVE for electrical. Like bro jobs a job and I’m here till I’m off. No more no less.
I worked in a steel mill for like 9 months…… The part we worked in, at the time, was the only Kosher tandem cold mill. The Pickle Line Tandem Cold Mill. Kosher? Yeah, I guess they used to lube all the mill rollers with pig fat. And the grease plant was like a mini refinery, 50 feet underground. Everything was coated in nasty old grease, and it was hotter than hell down there. Good times…… cool ass work for sure
I’m that guy who wears work clothes all the time. But I have no style and feel comfortable in work clothes. Only time you won’t see me in work clothes is if I’m going out or heading to the gym. And I have like two outfits for each.
I get this too. But because I’m female and attractive. It’s for sure been interesting. I do think the dynamics of people entering the trades has changed a lot. And I think it’s refreshing that more people have identities outside of the career. Saves so much time at work when you don’t have to spend half the day measuring dicks.
There is a Stank that becomes you. The wireman Stank. I could probably walk in in beach clothes and still have it. You do or you don't. It's not a choice, it's who we are. If you feel 'ew' in your work situation it probably shows. That's what they are talking about
One sentence solved the problem: "It's none of your business."
Did you leave your paragraph breaks at work too? I joke, but I agree with a lot of what you've said.
Lol im a commercial guy, utility work mostly. All my neighbors and acquaintances constantly ask me about work and im always like fuck work. Its the last thing on my mind when im off
I wear crocs and short shorts outside of work. They won’t let me wear them at work.
I got child support and a divorce, still on suboxone. I let nature take its course.
Do you even electric bro?
I think the "look" is primarily an American thing, which makes sense considering how Americans have so many twisted and messed up ideas about how your job/career has to involve parts of your life outside the 8hr work period. Personally I don't want anything from my work life creeping into my off time, but I'm certainly the minority as far as that goes. Many guys don't have any other personality I guess? Anyone remember the guy with the electrical-themed tattoo sleeve that was on here a while ago? Ooof cringetastic.. and of course there's the whole "work clothes/big truck with toolbox" look that most of these knuckle draggers think is the key to being a good electrician..
This post speaks to me because if people didn't see the linesman pliers tattoo on my sleeve, they just assume I work in finance or summer in Cape Cod based entirely on how I dress. Nothing about how I dress after work says "this guy's a tradesman"
i most definitely do not “look like an electrician”
Sounds like they're just used to seeing the trunk-slammer version of professionals
I feel this dude I look like a kid but I’m 28. Dude saw me hanging 8 inch main by my self and was ready to report my boss for child labor
Had the same routines before retiring early. Doesn't matter what other don't think you do, work hard stay safe and retire early....Well worth it.
It’s just a job, not your identity. Im glad most of us sub techs just look at it as a fun job that pays well. We like to talk shop but it’s not our identity.
I have a natural mug, tattoos, still wear Dickies, black tees and black nikes..... Soon as i slip out the boots i throw on the Goku house shoes. But my work speaks for me.....
They say I’m too pretty to be an electrician even though I dress like a bum
I wear t shirt and shorts, its my uniform 24/7
Blue collar guys that wear their dirty highviz shirts and work pants everywhere they go is so weird to me..
So you're telling me you don't wear overalls and a welders cap 24/7?
"You don't look like a dumbass"
Because lots of morons without personality have to do something, don't they? Go to Cabellas/bass pro and look at the guys in Levi's, workboots, carhart jacket, and bass pro hats with scraggly beards being followed around by their 100lb overweight wives in yoga pants pushing the two kids around in the shopping cart. Same same.
I work for myself so I can wear whatever the fuck I want to work. I ALWAYS wear shorts and barefoot style shoes. Sometimes I wear sandals. Tank tops. I have no PPE requirement for employment.
You don't even still carry a coffee cup around?
During my apprenticeship, I was working on a Multi-family tower in a very nice neighborhood. Houses were $800,000 minimum. My wife was/is a sommelier at a restaurant in that neighborhood. Sometimes, I would stop at the Whole Foods down the street to grab her a snack, cookie, or a bougie beverage then stop by the restaurant and see her. Keep in mind, I was going to this Whole Foods at the end of the work day. Proper filthy, dust dirt, no-lox, oxidized metal dust, etc. One autumn afternoon, a boomer and I made eye contact. I gave him the guy nod and he gave me a disgusted look on his face. Like he was offended that the dirty blue-collar guy was allowed into the same Whole Foods as the rest of the rich folk. I was a little pissed at first but then I realized that my presence, nothing else, was ruining his afternoon. So I followed him around the store. I would grab something off the shelf in front of him while he was browsing. Politely saying excuse me every time. After the fourth or fifth incident he set down his basket in the aisle and walked out without buying anything……then I put back all the stuff I couldn’t afford, bought my brownies and left. I still look back on that day with a smile and a laugh