Like the shovel the pick is hard yakka until you get into the swing of things, now if i get to choose between a pick and a shovel, as much as i detest both, give me the shovel any day, for its a seat as well as something to lean on when watching others hard at it .
As a seat the pick is useless owing to the fact its pointed one end a wedge shape at the other ( bit hard on the kyber pass) if sat on, and being curved like a rocking chair is no good to lean against. I have seen men with shoulders as wide as a pick handle and built to match use words you would not usually use in front of ladies when using a pick on hard ground without testing first with that other weapon of torture the crowbar.
The common crowbar is usually 6 feet in length, thin,wedge shaped at the business end and used by lifting up high and ramming down hard (if the boss is watching) causing a hole in the ground, then by working around the first hole made you enlarge it ,you must remember not to strike twice in the same place for its like lightening --expending energy for nothing.
Once you think you have made an impression a long handled post hole shovel may be used to remove the loose soil (show a bit of effort here to make it look good) now if you only need a hole continue with the crowbar and post hole shovel, if its a trench continue with the pick not too far in from the beginning of the hole we don't want to hurt ourselves do we, I'll give you another clue here-- Never lay a crowbar down on the ground because on a sunny day even though said bar is thin it can soon get bloody hot in a hurry----that from experience.
THE PICKAXE though why its called a pickaxe beats me nothing like an axe at all, i reckon it was named by a committee, one pickaxe i have used for many years is stamped on a 26 fluid ounce dark brown bottle full of the amber fluid which i prefer cold, poured into a glass with a nice foamy head on it---lovely stuff after a hard day using a pick.

-------------------------------------we used them all in the good old days-------------------------------------