A talk with a retired railroad mechanic about tool boxes made me think

I ran into a guy at the diner who used to work on locomotives for thirty years. He said, 'Kid, I spent my first five years' pay on a huge, shiny box. Then I spent the next twenty-five learning which three tools I actually needed from it.' He meant that knowing the machine matters more than having every tool. It hit me because I've been eyeing a new box myself. How do you decide what's worth keeping in your main box versus what can stay on the shelf?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthew_owens97d ago

That old guy's story is cute but misses the point. A good box full of tools lets you handle the weird problems you didn't see coming. Keeping just three things on hand means you're stuck when something new breaks.

singh.cole7d ago

Man, my grandpa fixed his whole barn with just a hammer and some stubbornness. Guess it depends on the problem.