Work

I hear from a lot of people they can't find work.  I think what they mean is a job.  The difference is that if you are willing to work, you will smile, roll up your sleeves, do what you are told and then ask for more.  People that want a job want to have it fit their schedule, have little hard things to do and no one to ask them to do more.   Here is just a small collection of the things I had to do as I worked my way up in the job chain.

I think that mowing grass with a push mower was some of the hardest sweaty work I ever did.  No, not a gas powered model, a rotary push mower at Grandma's.  I had to oil it up and then really get it moving to keep it mowing.  I remember the first time my dad brought the gasoline mower over to Grandma's and I finished the yard in less than a half an hour.  It took most of the afternoon with the old mower.   I probably mowed more grass as a young man than most of anything else.  That was a job that was always good for a couple of dollars and I could find a lot of people that wanted it done. 

Our Boy Scout troop was led by a fellow that worked for Mr. Koch who was the father of the guys everyone demonizes today.  Our Scoutmaster would find small jobs at the Koch estate about the time it was time to go to camp.  I'll bet I weeded and cleaned up a mile or two of flower gardens each year. There was also a million bales of hay that needed to be stacked in the barn twice a year.  Sweat was the job and I did it well.

The next job I had was working in a gas station.  It was grunt labor and I was never finished.  I would also clean the station and the bathrooms on a regular basis.  I did learn a lot about cars and probably know the gas cap location of any car made between 1940 and 1965.  I learned how to replace fan belts and wiper blades.  I learned the common courtesy things that no one does today.  We would not only clean the windows, we would vacuum the floor mats.   I had one customer that would send his daughters into the station when they were going to Kansas City and I would really have to clean his Cadillac interior so the girls could stand to be in the car.  He smoked cigars and aimed the ashes at the ash tray but was not good at hitting the mark.  I would have to use the chemical window cleaner on the inside of the windows to remove the cigar smoke haze.  Water alone would not cut that gray haze.

Just before I went into the Military, I was lucky enough to get a construction job.  I was a basic laborer but I almost made myself valuable to the boss and was paid as a semi skilled laborer most of the time.  I could talk to the carpenters and find out what they needed to do whatever job they were doing that day.  Things like ladders, extension cords, nails and lumber were always as ready as I could make them when they went to work.  I also swept up the job sites and picked up everything at the end of the day.  I think I did my best to smile, do whatever needed done and be there if the boss needed anything. 

In the Military, I learned a lot about sharing the work and how to build teams to get things done.  I watched how the boss's set up jobs and the processes of whatever assigned duty we had.  I think the idea that the mission came first was a hard lesson to learn and one I learned well.  Most people will respond well if the job is explained to them and they have a chance to provide input on how they do the job.  It is sometimes hard to watch a new person do things the hard way but they learn just like I did.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that our young people today just don't have the experience in learning how to work well because they haven't done the grunt jobs.  I wish there was a way to give them the experience.
 
MUD