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Watching the new port cranes made me think about lost hand signal skills
They're expanding the port near my house, and all the operators use radios now. My grandpa ran a crane here in the 80s, and he said reading hand signals was an art. These days, it's all about clear speech, which works but feels less precise to me.
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wright.cole1mo ago
Ever notice how tech makes things easier but we lose the old skills? Like nobody writes in cursive anymore or fixes their own stuff. Your crane example is just another part of that.
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oliviadixon1mo ago
When you said we lose the old skills... it's like the knowledge just evaporates. @the_henry mentioning only three people left who know the signals really drives it home. It's not just about the hand signals themselves, but the whole way of paying attention. Like, my dad can tell what's wrong with his car just by the sound it makes. Newer mechanics just plug in a computer. The feel for a thing gets lost. What old way of noticing things do you worry is disappearing next?
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I heard only three people in the whole port yard still know those old hand signals. When wright.cole said we lose the old skills, this feels like watching it happen right out my window. What else vanishes when we just talk into a radio?
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