Working smart

Mr. Pickett has a catch phrase that he consistently uses, called, "working smart."

It actually used to irritate me...but I think he's got something here.

As you glance around the shop you will see TVs upon TVs sitting one atop another and you start to think to yourself, "If Mr. Pickett is the only one that was here this afternoon, how in the heck did that 60" DLP get on top of that other DLP?"

I know for sure I could not lift that thing. It would come crashing down right on top of my head. No questions asked. One time I came in and found a similar situation, only he had put a TV on top of one of our work tables by himself.

Now let me tell you a little bit about Mr. Pickett. He might be 180 pounds soaking wet. He's not a body builder. Sure, he's got muscle but if you look at these TVs and you see his tall, medium build, you would agree that to lift these TVs seems like a small miracle.

So as I sit here today, he is once again moving TVs around to find sets to toss to the TV gods in the sky. Then he says to me, in his quirky little way that he does, "Now see what I mean about 'working smart'?"

I turn around and he's got a 60" DLP and carefully sliding it from atop one TV set to the next moving it across the room.

That is one of the pitfalls of this business. There is extreme heavy lifting. You have to find ways to maneuver large, awkward objects in a way that gets them where they need to be without hurting yourself or damaging the product.

What it comes down to is simple mechanics. In third grade science we learn about levers, pulleys and inclined planes. We use these simple mechanics everyday to keep from injuring ourselves.

For example, we have push-carts, a dolly, bath towels, boards and other maneuvering devices around the shop that help us to work with TV sets and other large appliances.

When I first met Mr. Pickett, I would have to say within the first week I was tired of the catch phrase "working smart" but inside this shop, it is starting to make sense.