Today, I worked my ass off. That's a good thing. It's a particularly good thing because my job is one that I can't pass off responsibilities to someone else. I'm get a deadline to meet, and from there it's up to me to meet it. I like that arrangement. It forces me to be organized, timely, responsible, independent, and driven. It's also stressful as hell some days, such as today. Survive it, though, and you're a better man on the other end.
None of those traits I'm sure I would have come to acquire on my own. I had some pretty damn good examples along the way, starting with my dad and mom. My dad worked his off ass pretty much his entire life, starting on his grandparents farm and then throughout the rest of his life. My mom worked all day, came home and worked some more, and I don't recall her complaining once.
Most every job I've had prior to my present one, I've been paired with someone who I had to work with day in and day out. Working with the same guy every day takes a lot of patience, particularly when you don't share a lot of the same interests or pastimes. That was the case when I worked on a tree nursery one summer. I worked every single day with a guy named Don. When everyone else was taking 30 minutes breaks and long lunches and heading back to the farm to leave for the day, Don worked by the numbers and beyond. I can't say I always appreciated Don's exemplary work ethic on those oppressively hot July days when we were digging holes by hand to plant trees, but damn if he didn't teach me something about responsibility, no matter the job at hand.
I painted houses pretty much every day for four years with a guy named Randy, who owned his own business. The guy's dedication to doing a job perfectly was amazing, and although Randy and I had our moments, I couldn't have admired his commitment to the task in front of him and to pleasing his customer more. At the core, Randy was a good guy, and his attention to detail was stellar. I learned a lot of life lessons from Randy, and for all the crap he took from me, he was extremely good to me.
I've had a few examples who fell completely at the other end of the scale, including a Vietnam vet I worked with one summer who plotted for a good month or so how he could hurt himself on the job to draw disability checks. As much fun as I had working with him and listening to his highly fabricated stories, I didn't care much for the fact that he had three DUIs on his record or that his paychecks were sent directly to the court to pay for his massive amount of back child support. Eventually, he did pull off his self-inflated injury by dropping on his knee his end of a 200-pound fuel tank we were carrying together. I can still see the sly smile on his face after the deed went down. Another summer I worked every day with a guy who owned his own landscaping company. All I can say about him is that he did 5% of the work and took 100% of the credit after the job was done. I still run into around town occasionally and have to fight an urge to seek and destroy.
I'm not sure how people around me would characterize my work ethic. I think some days it's through the roof. Others, if falls ways below that mark. It really depends on the task, which I'm a bit ashamed of. One of the great lessons in Zen is tackling every task with the same care and dedication, whether it's doing the dishes or erecting a skyscraper. My hope is that one day I'll reach that state of mind and being. Who knows? I do know I don't have to look too far examples of how it can be done.
None of those traits I'm sure I would have come to acquire on my own. I had some pretty damn good examples along the way, starting with my dad and mom. My dad worked his off ass pretty much his entire life, starting on his grandparents farm and then throughout the rest of his life. My mom worked all day, came home and worked some more, and I don't recall her complaining once.
Most every job I've had prior to my present one, I've been paired with someone who I had to work with day in and day out. Working with the same guy every day takes a lot of patience, particularly when you don't share a lot of the same interests or pastimes. That was the case when I worked on a tree nursery one summer. I worked every single day with a guy named Don. When everyone else was taking 30 minutes breaks and long lunches and heading back to the farm to leave for the day, Don worked by the numbers and beyond. I can't say I always appreciated Don's exemplary work ethic on those oppressively hot July days when we were digging holes by hand to plant trees, but damn if he didn't teach me something about responsibility, no matter the job at hand.
I painted houses pretty much every day for four years with a guy named Randy, who owned his own business. The guy's dedication to doing a job perfectly was amazing, and although Randy and I had our moments, I couldn't have admired his commitment to the task in front of him and to pleasing his customer more. At the core, Randy was a good guy, and his attention to detail was stellar. I learned a lot of life lessons from Randy, and for all the crap he took from me, he was extremely good to me.
I've had a few examples who fell completely at the other end of the scale, including a Vietnam vet I worked with one summer who plotted for a good month or so how he could hurt himself on the job to draw disability checks. As much fun as I had working with him and listening to his highly fabricated stories, I didn't care much for the fact that he had three DUIs on his record or that his paychecks were sent directly to the court to pay for his massive amount of back child support. Eventually, he did pull off his self-inflated injury by dropping on his knee his end of a 200-pound fuel tank we were carrying together. I can still see the sly smile on his face after the deed went down. Another summer I worked every day with a guy who owned his own landscaping company. All I can say about him is that he did 5% of the work and took 100% of the credit after the job was done. I still run into around town occasionally and have to fight an urge to seek and destroy.
I'm not sure how people around me would characterize my work ethic. I think some days it's through the roof. Others, if falls ways below that mark. It really depends on the task, which I'm a bit ashamed of. One of the great lessons in Zen is tackling every task with the same care and dedication, whether it's doing the dishes or erecting a skyscraper. My hope is that one day I'll reach that state of mind and being. Who knows? I do know I don't have to look too far examples of how it can be done.
**Clap** **Clap** **Clap** ...Look at Mr Workaholic chug his Workahol...**starts baking cookies** I guess I know where my fresh batch of cookies is going...Pfft, I'll be over here watching Youtube...and staring straight ahead with neither an I can do it, or want to do it disposition.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Guy Salesman