A chat with an old timer at the Port of Seattle made me see things different

I was grabbing coffee and ran into a retired operator, Frank, who ran a ladder dredge back in the 70s. He said, 'We used to feel the river bottom through the sticks, now you kids just stare at screens.' It hit me that I really don't know what a silt seam feels like anymore, everything is gauges and GPS. Anyone else miss that kind of hands-on sense?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantthomas2mo ago

Reminds me of my grandpa talking about driving trucks before power steering. Said you had to fight the wheel to feel the road. I guess every job loses some of that feel over time.

mia_lee2mo ago

But that fight with the wheel wasn't skill, it was just hard work. Power steering lets you focus on the road and other cars, not just wrestling with the truck. It's like saying a calculator takes the feel out of math. Sure, but it also stops simple mistakes and lets you solve bigger problems. The "feel" we lose is often just wasted effort that held us back.

amy6921mo ago

My old boss called that "steering with your shoulders.