The engineer pushback has gone the way of the inflight engineer and probably the pilots one day too.
As much as I love working with engineers and enjoy their company, particularly overseas at the floors, it's life.
I'm just bloody glad that despite the massive change through the industry, anytime I need one, they are there quickly and always display the utmost professionalism and courtesy.
I'd rather qantas' worst, than the best I've seen overseas.
I disagree with the above leejoyce, rampies are rampies. We never know what we'll get and generally its too hard to set them straight. So we just consider it a threat and manage it the best we can.
I will say on behalf of most, slow down! It takes about 3 minutes to start the engines. It doesn't matter if you rush the ship out at breakneck speed. You can't dispatch until the donks are lit and the checklists are done. Slow it down and it might save the above mentioned lames a lot of swearing in the hangar one day replacing a tailcone or a sharklet. If you time it so you're saying set brakes as the flaps are coming down it'll be a job well done.