JeffGu,
You made some excellent points, and you are correct in what you say, with the exception of one thing: your friend was not a cowboy. Maybe a rodeo clown, but not a cowboy.
Let me reflect on a lesson I learned once, in mislabeling skill levels. I once thought that "butchering" a tree was a proper term for tree mutilation, until I attended a seminar with Claus Mattheck. Dr. Mattheck pointed out, that you should never use the term "butcher" to describe tree mutilation, because a butcher is a highly skilled, precision cutting expert. His point made sense. I once met a local business owner in Atlanta, that carried the name "Tree Butcher" on his business card. We spoke at a local saw shop briefly, and I never really understood his logic in coming up with the name, "Tree Butcher" until I attended Claus's seminar. Although that was just a minor passing comment that Claus made (one of many), I held onto it.
I'd suggest that you also consider the term Cowboy in the same light. If you have ever done any cowboy work, or know of any, there are only a small percentage that are rodeo riders. Just as there are only a small percentage of professional pilots are stunt pilots. There is an old adage "there are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old-bold pilots". I think that holds true in our industry, sooner or later, stunts will catch up to you. As a business owner, you are correct in stating that you have superior knowledge of most employee behaviors. If you are a drug-free workplace, then the level of superior knowledge rises higher.
In the movies, the bad cowboy is an "outlaw" that has the big ego, cares less about the law, drinks whiskey at night, rides along ridge lines all day, and is constantly on the run. Their money comes from the next heist. I think a better term for a climber that disregards rules, safety, and regulations, would be an "outlaw climber". There are plenty of those in the industry, and I think there are a lot of good Cowboy's as well, but your friend, I believe he's an "outlaw". I have worked with many outlaw climbers, and when I leave the jobsite, their safety helmet is off, chainsaw lanyard is off the saw, cigarette in one hand, cutting with the other, smiling the whole time. The cowboy's I know, wear a saddle, have their safety gear, are OSHA and ANSI compliant, have worker's comp, and are very effective and work with precision. America was not built with a gang of lawless cattle rustlers. Those are the guys that stole from the hardworking, law abiding "Cowboys". The cowboys gave them the name "cattle rustler", or "outlaw", because they were not of the same breed. I just wanted to correct you in your choice of terminology , but your point is spot on.
