Joseph_25, sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, but I checked the thread and it looks like Mark hooked you up nicely.
Boss, I’ve definitely gained a newfound respect for A314, and I’ve discovered the best situation to use it in with this job change, which brings me to…
A314 Week 1, New Environment Summary
Want to see how good this stuff is? Try it in a new environment. With people who already know you, you’re fighting against a preconception of how you are. Unless your natural “aura”, for lack of a better word, matches what A314 does for you, it’s an uphill battle. If, on the other hand, you find yourself in a new environment, with new people who don’t know you already, and you want to make the best possible impression, you’re in for a treat.
First, I want to contrast my previous job with my new one, to demonstrate the situation I found myself in, and why it’s crucial that I start off with a good, strong, and assertive leg.
My old job had me working in an ISO certified clean room environment (basically, very little free-floating contaminates in the air), that was fairly quiet and slow paced. My peers were a majority female and older, though there were some guys there. Our work was on the meticulous side, as our function was to develop new aircraft manufacturing methods with cutting-edge materials. Basically, we figured out the “how”, and left the fast paced work to those who would take what we developed and start doing it en masse.
My new job consists of the other side-- the “doing it en masse” part. We’re building 737s, specifically the wings in my area, and it’s a delicate balancing act of working as fast as possible, while being as precise as possible. The environment is loud, dirty, crowded, and chock full of testosterone. It’s mostly male-populated, though there are a few women around. Every guy seems to be burly, alpha types, so the impetus on the newcomer is to achieve a level of respect as quickly as possible in order to fit in. Now, this isn’t to say you have to do the whole prison thing of finding the biggest guy on the cell block and kick his ass or anything like that. Instead, you have to carry yourself with a sort of cool confidence; make sure when you shake hands, you give a firm grip and look the other guy directly in the eye; pick up on the techniques of the job, and so on.
For me, I’m in training, so I have to make the best effort to learn what I’m being taught, minimize the screwups, and keep my wits about me. It seems simple enough, but the environment makes it all seem pretty intimidating. It’s pure industry in motion. You’ve got the constant machine gun sound of riveters on one side, the warning horn from the overhead crane going above, the whirl-grind sounds of drills, and people running around like ants on dead bird. Then there’s the mental pressure. The work you do must be ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. No exceptions. These wings are going to be flying at up to 38,000 feet, over 500 mph, and carrying 200+ human beings, so there’s no such thing as “good enough”.
So, with all that, my job is to first of all, be prepared. I have to put myself in a mental state where I CAN learn to do the job, CAN produce the perfection that our Quality Assurance demands, and CAN treat my coworkers with the respect due them for being able to do that themselves.
That part is definitely 90% or more my responsibility. The A314 helps to augment that by producing the vibe. This isn’t a “set it and forget it” thing. You can’t just put on a few drops and expect it to do all the work. However, it does seem to give a boost to the unspoken aspects of interaction. There ARE pheromones involved, of course, so as long as you’re playing the part, they’ll play theirs.
So with that said, I think this is the biggest indicator I’ve seen that A314 is worth every penny. I’ve always regarded it as a mainstay in my pheromone collection, but this just solidifies it.
-D4