Hit 500 service calls last month and that number caught me off guard

I've been installing cable for about 3 years and last month I hit 500 calls completed. That made me realize I've probably stepped into more attics and crawl spaces than most people see in a lifetime. Has anyone else tracked their total and been surprised by the number?

3 comments

3 Comments

webb.ben22d agoMost Upvoted

500 calls just means you did your job, man. Not trying to pile on, but that's basically what the gig is. I worked a summer doing pest control and hit like 150 in a month, didn't feel like a big deal. Crawl spaces and attics aren't some heroic tally, they're just where the wires are. Unless you're counting the ones where you almost passed out from heat or got bit by something, the number itself doesn't really mean much.

felix_williams7114d ago

Yeah the line about "the number itself doesn't really mean much" kind of sums up this whole thing we do where we turn work into some kind of contest. I see it everywhere, not just on here. People compare hours worked or how many jobs they did like it's proof of being tough or something. But honestly most of that is just busy work and routine stuff. The real story is always in the details nobody talks about, the weird situations and the unexpected problems. Numbers flatten everything out and make it sound cleaner than it really is. We should probably just talk about what actually happened instead of trying to win with a bigger number.

jordan90322d ago

Haven't you missed the point a little here, @webb.ben? I don't think anyone's claiming 500 calls is heroic. The number is just a way to show how much work one person did in a rough situation. Comparing it to pest control isn't quite fair either. Different lines of work. The heat and cramped spaces might be similar, but the stakes and the type of problems are totally different in telecom. Your experience is valid, but it doesn't make his less real just because the numbers are bigger.