Mixing up the finish can with a soda bottle almost led to a weird lunch

We were training a fresh face on how to apply lacquer to some oak cabinets. He had a soda bottle sitting next to his mixing cups on the bench. In a hurry, he grabbed the wrong container and nearly took a swig from the lacquer can. The whole crew saw it and started yelling before his lips touched the rim. He jumped back, and we all cracked up for a solid five minutes. Now we make sure all drink bottles have bright caps and stay far from the finishing supplies. It's those little mix-ups that make the day memorable.

3 comments

3 Comments

ben4362d ago

Used to think those rules were overkill too, but seeing someone almost drink lacquer changed my mind real fast.

lopez.holly16d ago

Seems like he would have noticed before swallowing once it hit his tongue. That stuff smells nothing like soda. Kind of an overblown reaction from your crew for a mistake he caught himself on. Now you have a whole system for drink bottles, which feels like solving a problem that wasn't really there.

richard10716d ago

Holly's point about it being an overblown reaction is interesting. I see this pattern everywhere, where a close call makes people build a whole new rule. My wife reorganized all the cleaners under the sink because I almost sprayed glass cleaner on a pan. It's not about the real danger, it's about that jolt of "what if." We make the rule to calm the scare, not because the problem was likely to happen twice.