PSA: I was stripping 12-gauge wire with my linesman pliers for years before a foreman in Phoenix pointed out the notches on my strippers. | Electricians - Rigidtalk
My old foreman in Tampa watched me fight with a screwdriver on a terminal block for a solid hour. He finally tossed me a nut driver and just walked away shaking his head.
Man, that slow walk is the universal sign you've been a total bonehead. I once spent twenty minutes trying to force a square peg into a round hole, literally. My buddy just sighed, turned the peg, and slid it right in. The shame walk back to the toolbox is a rite of passage.