[AT WORK]
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Denise "Sunshine" Kahakui >> I have been a telephone technician at Verizon Hawaii for 14 years. You could say it runs in my family: My father was a technician at GTE Hawaiian Tel, Verizon's predecessor in Hawaii, for many years. My co-workers call me "Sunshine," a nickname given to me by a former boss who thought I could never have a bad day. Telephone technician
Sunshine Kahakui's work sends
her up poles and into ditchesMy job is to install and repair telecommunication lines, which can require climbing utility poles, crawling under houses or working under the street in manholes. My work usually takes me to the Kalihi, Moanalua and Puuloa areas, but my main responsibility is the Honolulu International Airport.
Whenever possible I talk to our customers face-to-face. I enjoy this part of my job the most and it's really helpful because they can tell me exactly what they want or expect from Verizon. Knowing this, I can meet their expectations or talk to them about working in other options that will.
I thrive on challenges. If I need to dig a ditch to get to an underground cable that's been cut, I'll do it. Is digging a ditch in my job description? No, but to me, it's not about what's in your job description, it's about doing whatever you can to meet your customers' needs. People really depend on our services and I go home satisfied only if I know I did everything I could to get our customers what they needed when they expected it.
There are the daily challenges that range from trying to avoid being stung by yellow jackets that have made nests in our overhead cable boxes or being bit by centipedes that crawl out from the manholes, but I truly believe I have one of the best jobs in the world. Every day is different, I get to work outdoors, I meet interesting people all the time and I have the support of great co-workers who are like my second family.
At Work is a weekly feature that shows and tells what people do for a living in their own words. Send comments and submissions to: business@starbulletin.com