This is a serious subject and I ask that you be hesitant to judge me on something I don't completely understand. I'm always willing to learn. My opinions on this subject are not shooting from the hip, they are based on personal experience. I ask that you read all the way to the end of this article before you even think about leaving a comment.
To date I have had three coworkers with, fairly, severe ADHD. Person #1 worked, briefly (spoiler alert), at the shop before I was the night foreman so I had no responsibility for his actions. He was a young man in tech school (never finished the first year) and zoomed around like he was running on 440 volts. He would be tasked with taking wheels off, or something similar, he would have the axle jacked up, impact out, the sound of that impact would be heard and, then, ten minutes later... He was nowhere to be found. Half of the wheel nuts would be off. The foremen at that time (first and second shift) would ask "Where the f*&k is Person 1?" We would find him doing something else. "What are you doing? Get back over there and get those wheels off!" Repeat this scenario multiple times per day, every day. Person 1's tool box was usually empty because he would be distracted to the point where he left his tools all over the shop and never put them back into his box. Person 1 got canned before his probationary period was up. The shop's owner saw, firsthand, what was going on and wasn't having it.
Person 2, somehow (not my choice by the way), managed to remain employed at the shop for two years. Person 2 is a dumpster fire and worthy of an article on just him but I'll keep it brief for this article. Person 2 was hired as a sixteen year old "apprentice" and, despite his enthusiasm was, right from the first couple of days, not going to be a mechanic. When Person 2 was hired the previous foremen had either retired or left for other jobs. I was/am night foreman (read that "babysitter" for reasons I'll explain at another time) and "Beaver" was/is the current day foreman (I defer to him, even though I have a lot more experience. Reasons). I am not involved in the hiring process but I am saddled with the people who are hired because nobody wants to work night shift. Yet, I'm the one getting yelled at when these idiots fuck up. I digress. Before Person 2's probationary period was up (within his first week actually) I said "Get rid of him." I was, of course, ignored and Person 2 continued being an employee. Making the best of the shit I had on hand, I talked with Person 2 and learned more about ADHD. I talked with my sister, who has a Master's in education (and she got all the "difficult" students) and I learned more about ADHD. I found a, for lack of a better word, "checklist" of ADHD syptoms and Person 2 had 90% of them. Hoarding being the worst. I kept telling Beaver that we had to get rid of this person but I was, again, ignored. Beaver seems to be a person who has to save every stray puppy he sees. But Beaver is all about business at the same time. It's an account that I still can't reconcile. Beaver eventually came around and Person 2 remained a "clean up" person. I can't even tell you how much shop equipment he (Person 2) lost.
Person 2, finally, after two years, was gone. In those two years he had, somehow, managed to graduate high school, attend tech school for one semester (failed), destroy three of his vehicles and a list of things I can't describe here. But, he remained an employee of our shop. I had learned about ADHD (Beaver did not) and had made attempts at finding a way, any way, that Person 2 could fit in at the shop. It did not work. The only thing Person 2 succeeded at was toasting engines and making me lower the bar to the point where if anyone could remove a bolt without depending on the ratchet stating "on" and "off" they were a success. Yes, he was that bad.
Person 2 was not fired (much to my chagrin) but left for another job. He was frustrated with only getting "broom" duty. Person 2 was hired as a mechanic at a local garbage truck place and, surprisingly, remained employed there for a few months. He toasted a couple of engines and was promptly canned. Person 2 then made the usual rounds of shops within commuting distance and never made it longer than a couple of weeks. I would give Beaver, when the Person 2 came up in conversation, the "look". The look that says "I was right, but you ignored what I had to say." The sad thing is that Beaver was considering re-hiring Person 2 because "We need a clean-up guy." I put my foot down and and said "We were more than gracious with him. All of the other places he's worked at canned him post-haste and that should tell you something. We can hire high school kids for clean-up all day long and they may actually amount to something. Person 2? No way. If you re-hire him I'm gone. I'll go back to cleaning toilets or bagging groceries before I work with Person 2 again. For once someone, the lead mechanic, agreed with me. Person 2 is somewhere out there doing something. I don't care what.
Person 3 is a recent hire. First year of tech school, full of piss and vinegar... ADHD. He falls somewhere between 1 and 2. That's all I'll say about him.
The things I've learned from Persons 1, 2 and 3 are many. I don't care how much ambition a person has, the "You can be whatever you want to be" is bullshit. It's the "participation trophy" mentality. That shit doesn't fly in the real world. I can only speak of my profession and I will say vehicle repair is a grind, like any other job, and it requires people who can remain focused and stay on task.
Before you judge me I have scenarios for you to contemplate and they are based on reality. You take for granted when you put your foot on the brake pedal of your vehicle, and press down upon it, that your vehicle will come to a stop. Do you want a Person who is more interested in what's in the trash can, the latest notification on their phone, the current "shiny" distraction... working on your vehicle's brakes? What would you be thinking if a Person was so distracted that they forgot to tighten (torqued properly if they could remember where they left their fourth torque wrench) oil pan's drain plug during a routine service and you're stuck waiting for a $40,000 engine replacement the shop will have to claim as a loss? What if a Person was in the middle of putting wheels onto a trailer, only hand tightened the wheel nuts and... "Oooooh, is that a Powerstroke with a stack? What's this bucket for? Is that green light flashing for some... Can I go get some food?"
The brutal reality of the repair business is that there's no place for "mechanics" with ADHD. One fuck up, or two, (dependent on cost of said fuck up) and those people are gone. There is no fucking rainbow. It's business and people don't start businesses to lose money. I'm not holding those dealing with ADHD responsible because it's the hand they were dealt and, as I've experienced up to this point, are well aware of their situation. Everyone gets a chance but, at some point, we have to accept the reality of the situation. "This driver has to have the load delivered by X time and we need to get it done!" I spend so much time keeping People on task, checking their work and then fixing their fuck-ups that I can't see the point of having those People around in the first place.
Who did your last brake job?
