Right, so someone brought up ‘hard knuckle’ the other day, and it got me thinking back.
Getting the Gear
I remember seeing those gloves everywhere for a while. You know the ones, with the plastic or carbon fiber bit over the knuckles. Looked real tough, like something out of a movie. I figured, why not? I was doing a bit more work outdoors back then, some rough handling of materials, stacking wood, clearing brush, that sort of thing. Thought maybe they’d save my hands a few scrapes.
So, I went and bought a pair. Didn’t get the super expensive tactical ones, just a decent workwear brand. Pulled them on first time, and yeah, they felt…weird. Bulky. The knuckle part made closing my fist feel stiff.
- First day, I wore them moving some old bricks. Clumsy. Dropped one right near my foot.
- Couldn’t really feel what I was gripping properly.
- The inside seams started rubbing almost immediately.
But I stuck with it for a bit. Thought maybe I just needed to break them in, like a new pair of boots.
What Actually Happened
Well, the ‘breaking in’ never really happened. They stayed clumsy. One afternoon, I was trying to yank out some stubborn roots. Had the gloves on. Gave a real hard pull, my hand slipped, and smacked it against a rock. Right on the knuckles.
Now, you’d think, ‘Ah, good thing you had the hard knuckle gloves!’ Nope. The impact was hard enough that the plastic bit, instead of just protecting, kinda focused the force? It pushed hard into my actual knuckles underneath. Didn’t break anything, thankfully, but man, it hurt. More than I reckon it would have with just regular leather gloves. Got a nasty bruise right under the ‘protection’.
It made me laugh later, thinking about it. Here I was, thinking I needed this extra ‘tough’ gear for simple yard work. Reminded me of a situation years ago, totally different thing, but same kind of thinking.
Funny How Things Work Out
I was starting a new job, years back. Heard the boss was a real hard case, demanding, yelled a lot. People told me, ‘You gotta be tough, stand your ground, don’t let him push you around.’ So, I went in first day, all mentally prepared for battle. Ready to be assertive, maybe even a bit confrontational if I had to be. Like wearing emotional hard knuckles, you know?
Walked in, met the guy. And he was… quiet. A bit awkward, even. Turned out he was just really focused, terrible at small talk, and sometimes his frustration came out loud, but it wasn’t really directed at anyone. He was actually fair, just stressed. All that mental preparation, that ‘tough guy’ act I was ready to put on? Totally useless. Would have made things worse, probably.
We ended up getting along fine once I dropped the act and just did the work and talked to him like a normal person. Learned more from him than most other bosses, actually.
So yeah, the hard knuckle gloves. They ended up in the back of the shed pretty quick. Sometimes, the stuff you think you need for protection, or the attitude you think you need to adopt, it just gets in the way. Makes you clumsy. Or worse, makes you hurt yourself. Better to just use your head, deal with things as they are. Regular gloves work fine for moving bricks. And being a decent human works fine for dealing with most people, even the ‘tough’ ones.
