"I'm not a plumber. But I'm pretty sure that's not how sinks work."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Reposted by Kevin M. Kruse
https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmkruse.bsky.social

Jess Calarco
‪@jessicacalarco.com‬

I'm not a plumber. But I'm pretty sure that's not how sinks work.

US Department of Education Facebook post saying SKILLS THAT PAY OFF, showing an AI image of a White man and a brown-skinned woman wearing blue coveralls and tool belts. He's pointing off into the distance and she's working on a sink that has way too many exposed copper pipes in all the wrong places
ALT
7:57 AM · May 20, 2026

I'm not a plumber. But I'm pretty sure that's not how sinks work.

— Jess Calarco (@jessicacalarco.com) 2026-05-20T11:57:06.791Z

[displacedvermoter]

1. Maybe it's a still?

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

2. Hey DOE, those copper thingies are not pipes, they're conduits for the wiring!

[gab13by13]

9. Made me laugh

Should have used the shark bite conduit.😊

Must not have had a bender for the conduit.

[pdxflyboy]

13. A Plumbing We Will Go!!!

n/t

[C_U_L8R]

3. There's a Three Stooges episode about this.

[Brother Buzz]

29. GMTA - I was riffing on The Three Stooges, too

[awesomerwb1]

32. Hahaha Thank you for posting this

I needed a laugh right now

[RazorbackExpat]

56. Tennessee Tuxedo, too

[LeftinOH]

4. Pretty sure the "tool" the woman is holding doesn't exist..

..outside of an AI prompt for "plumbing tool."

[haele]

39. It's an Eicher wrench -

The hand grips are aligned in one direction, and the tool head is aligned to an offset dimension.
I've used tools like that in dreams ..

[ProfessorGAC]

40. I'd Call It A Basin Wrench

Any wrench that use a circle of semicircle that reverses is an Eicher wrench.
An oil filter wrench, a jar lid removal wrench, a basin wrench; all forms of Eicher Wrench.
But, that contraption she has also has what appears to be a ratchet head above the jaws which would render those useless.
Also, for most applications, why would it be made of brass? Brass is usually used on wrenches to assure spark-free uses. I've seen them used on railcar domes where the contents are highly flammable as on, for instance, and ethylene oxide railcar.
Don't think a plumber needs brass which wears out sooner.

[rickford66]

41. Beryllium is used on spark free tools

[ProfessorGAC]

43. I Saw Brass

But, if beryllium was alloyed with copper it might look like brass., so I could have been fooled.

[rickford66]

46. Two reasons I said beryllium

In the service (1969) I had to do some work close to fuel bladders full of AV gas and was required to use a beryllium hammer. You do what Uncle Sam says. Several years later (mid 70's), I worked at a resort that had held conferences and one was KBI. One of the products they had was beryllium tools, touted as spark-free. I remember this well, because I was unhappy because the corporation was known to be poisoning the environment with their processes. Brass may be in the alloy though.

[ProfessorGAC]

47. I Looked It Up

Berrylium is, of course, a reactive metal.
So, it coordinates with copper. Making a stable alloy.
Brass is copper & zinc. If these tools are copper & berrylium, they'd look just like brass, or at least bronze.
Probably why I thought it was straight brass.

[rickford66]

48. Makes sense

[highplainsdem]

5. Your government on generative AI.

[underpants]

36. It's a fitting wrench - part wrench and part fittings

[Johonny]

53. They could have made a better image

But they're too fucking stupid to even use Ai well.

[Ocelot II]

6. Gotta love AI slop.

Just apart from the fact that nobody's bathroom anywhere on Earth has plumbing like that, it looks like one of the copper pipes goes right into a pocket of the guy's tool belt, and another one into his butt. And what is that weird tool the woman is holding?

[underpants]

35. The handle is a wrench and then it becomes fittings, probably brass

Are we sure that he’s just in the way and one of those copper pipes connects with the nondescript windowless van? 👀

[Attilatheblond]

54. AI has a sense of humor?!??

finally, it found a way to be useful

[blogslug]

7. Did Linda make that with A1?

[underpants]

34. 😂😂😂😂😂

[Wuddles440]

8. WTAF!!!

[Hugin]

10. Yeah, so?

It’s modeled on MY house.

[Nittersing]

11. Just title it "Trump Admin at Work"

[leftstreet]

22. ...need someone stealing all the copper

[Iggo]

12. Skills, like the ability to draw a sink?

[Biophilic]

14. AI strikes again.

[lastlib]

15. What idiot uses a monkey wrench on copper pipes??

And the pipe going down to the left side of the sink looks like an optical illusion--I've never seen a connector that turns a pipe through two axes. (Pretty sure they don't sell that at Home Depot.....)

[ornotna]

16. That blue wrench in the woman's tool belt is a classic plumbing tool

For when you want to do a halfassed job.

[gab13by13]

17. Looks like a 6 inch adjustable wrench

With 1/2 of the jaw missing.

[underpants]

37. It's a scissor wrench. Not scissorS, scissor.

[sboatcar]

18. Do they have to use this AI slop because no artists will work for the Federal government anymore?

[highplainsdem]

19. Trump's lackeys are dumb enough to think this is good. Or good enough.

[sop]

20. I think the bigger message is the DOE wants to turn places of higher learning into trade schools.

No more woke STEM shit, everyone has to take shop and home economics.

[ColoringFool]

31. THAT'S A BINGO! 👍💯 And Work On Multi-Generational Assembly....

Lines!

[BaronChocula]

21. Needs more pipe

And another one of those mystery gadgets the woman is holding. Haven't seen those at Lowe's.

[Ray Bruns]

23. Why are there copper pipes installed in the front of the sink?

[Devilsun]

24. Looks like rolls of wire above sink?

[Ray Bruns]

33. I think it's supposed to be solder.

[Ray Bruns]

25. I would hire these guys before the ones in the photo.

https://m.

[maveric]

28. I was waiting for someone to post this.

😂

[waterwatcher123]

26. Not going to hire these plumbers (pipes to nowhere).

[bucolic_frolic]

27. Making a $150 plumbing job into an $850 plumbing job.

That's what contractors do these days. Upsell.

[spanone]

30. Comedy Gold

If that was your first job, it would be your last.

[underpants]

38. Yes BUT I'd bet that nondescript windowless van is already paid off

Nondescript….windowless….van 🍭🤡 👀

[Straw Man]

42. "SKILLS THAT PAY OFF"

You mean skills like making a realistic picture of plumbers at work?

[Vinca]

44. There are times I desperately need a plumber, but not desperate enough for that pair!

That's one weird plumbing job.

[onethatcares]

45. why does he get all

the flag patches?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

49. They figured one of them pipes must be the supply line

The more the merrier.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

50. AI "art"

[SheltieLover]

51. Ai slop

[luv2fly]

52. He's white, but she's brown?

It might be my old eyes failing me, but they sure do look to be the same color.

[Timewas]

55. I was a contractor

For 30+ years and if I saw that I would fire them immediately........ That is a joke