An old climber in Sacramento showed me his hands before he'd let me touch his saw
Back in 2019 I was helping out on a removal job in Sacramento, a big dead oak over a garage, and an old climber named Ray was running the show. Before he'd even let me touch a saw he held up both hands and said, "count the fingers, then count the scars." He was missing the tip of his left ring finger and had a pale line across two knuckles, all from one kickback in the 90s that he said happened because he got lazy about the chain brake on a small cut. He made me watch him do three cuts and call out where the bar tip was the whole time, and honestly I felt dumb doing it, but your mileage may vary on how much that matters to some folks. What stuck with me is he never once talked down to me about it, he just showed the finger and let the silence do the work. Now I do the same thing with new ground guys, hold up my hand and ask them to count. Anybody else here have an old timer who taught them something without a single lecture?