Any Electricians ?

[Yorkie]

Back in the late 1960s I was local manager for British Gas for Spalding, Stamford and Boston. When interviewing school leavers for apprenticeships we used a range of tests - progressive matrices, mental arithmetic, and questions about practical things such as wiring a three pin plug. When asked what the colour code was, one lad - who was actually very bright, said 'I don't know', so we said 'have a stab at it'. He said 'well blue is the colour of the sky, so that's high up - I imagine that would be the high voltage connection. Brown is the colour of earth, and green is the colour of grass and that's between the sky and the earth, so I guess that would be neutral'. Disastrous consequences if followed, but a very logical answer - it's a pity he didn't devise the colour code in the first place!

The same lad did very well in the mental arithmetic tests, but gave a wrong answer to a simple question, (or so we thought), which was: 'How many pieces of wood 1ft 6" long can you cut from a length of wood 6 ft long?' He answered 'one'. When questioned about this he said: 'Well if you cut 1ft 6" from the wood it will then be only 4ft 6" long, so I answered 'one' which I feel is the correct answer. I think the questions is ambiguous, and it might be better to ask 'If I wanted four pieces of wood 1ft 6" long, what length would would I need?'
(The question was later amended!).

He got the apprenticeship - he'd be 59 now and I often wondered what became of him. I guess that he didn't stay 'on the tools' for long, but had a successful career and rose to high places rather than earning his living on his knees, repairing broken central heating boilers and leaking pipes!

I recall the Personnel Manager asking if the lad earned his own pocket money - did he have a paper round for example, and if so, did he give any money to his mum? (Kiss of death if the answer was 'no' - instantly labelled a layabout whose parents kept him in idleness). The lad said 'I go rouging on Saturdays'. Huh? He explained that in field of tulips - yellow for example - if there are any other colours such as red, they're called 'rogues' and will cross pollinate and ruin the other bulbs. Hence the 'rogues' have to be pulled by hand as soon as they're spotted, by walking up and down the rows.

Really? I didn't know that!

Next interviewee - the Personnel Manager asked with great authority - 'Do you earn any pocket money, - for example, do you have a paper round, or do you go rouging?'.

Rambled and dribbled Yorkie.