Thoughts from the New Guy & a Most Unusual Funeral

Training at Downey Trees, Inc., takes place every Friday morning at 6:30 AM. Sometimes, specialized training is provided in groups of associates with similar positions or qualifications. Training may also be provided to the company as a whole. However the venues are set up, the training is always interesting and unique- it is actually provided by the employees of the company for the benefit of their fellow employees. The atmosphere is attentive and serious- safety is the overriding theme in every session since the work of our company is among the most dangerous occupations on Earth. But there is also a strong feeling of comradery in those sessions that make them light, interesting, and something to look forward to each week.
The topics of discussion are wide ranging and always fascinating, especially to a new guy like myself. One week Dennis may talk about rigging ropes in a tree and the stresses placed on them as wood is cut and lowered, based on their position and angle. Another week Matt talks about how trees grow and respond to environmental stimuli and pruning cuts. Rusty throws in a You Tube video showing how fast a person (in this case thankfully, a dummy) can get dragged into a chipper if his climbing rope gets caught in it. All of these lessons are peppered with personal experiences from the group and questions aimed at always doing things better and safer.
On Friday morning, after the session, Johnny sits at his desk to begin work on the topic and content of the class for next Friday. It is impressive to me to see so much venturing beyond a job description at Downey Trees, Inc. The “education department” is a group of people that also do production and supervisory jobs every day. Everywhere you turn at Downey there are “above and beyond” activities happening. Each week there seems to be a new project undertaken to make little improvements to the facility- to make things better or more efficient. Items are conceived and fabricated in the shop to cordon off a work zone on a busy street or make a retention pond work properly. Guys jump in a truck to take a needed item to a crew out in the field, or repair a piece of equipment that has gone down. Crews safely back in from a day of work cheerfully turn around and go right back out because a tree fell across a driveway and needs to be removed. There is an overriding sense of “can do” around here.
Which brings me to the funeral alluded to in the title. Today, during the Friday training session, Downey Trees had a funeral for the word “Can’t”. It was a solemn occasion. The wooden coffin with rope handles was placed on a table in front of the room. Our leader, Paul, had a container filled with small pieces of paper, on each of which were written the word “can’t”. Everyone in the room was asked to rise and proceed to the front of the room, where they would take a piece of the paper, proceed to the open coffin, and place the word can’t inside. When all had completed the task, the gathering sat down and listened to the eulogy, delivered by “Revered Paul”, who described the marriage of “Can” and “Not” who had a son named “Can’t”. After a troubled life, Can’t passed away. While Can and Not were deeply saddened by the passing of “Can’t”, they were also relieved since they could not do anything with him. With Can’t now gone, so is some of the baggage he carried with him, such as “Can’t be late for work”, “Can’t be out of work”, “Can’t pick on your fellow worker”, “Can’t tear up anything!” After the eulogy, the crew leaders carried the casket to the waiting burial site, where it was carefully placed in the waiting grave, and gingerly covered with soil by the designated Downey’s backhoe. So it seems that today Dennis planned the perfect funeral, and so ended the life and times of “can’t” at Downey Trees, Inc. Of course, after the funeral, we participated in the customary after-funeral activity: we ate!
Training comes in many forms in life and at Downey Trees, Inc. Here, it seems to be a product of the diversity of the people that work there, and flows from the expertise of each person’s diverse experience. Training is done weekly, targeted to each person’s level of expertise, and done in an upbeat and interesting way with safety always the underlying theme. As the “new guy”, I find it a refreshing revelation to see all the “can do” around here- I really think the word can’t was almost buried at Downey Trees, Inc. before we actually did it!
Rick Barnes-The New Guy