Beech Tree News Network

I can’t remember who said it, but I really like the following quote: “It is quite possible to work without results, but never will there be results without work.

               Last week, I became very frustrated as yet another employee quit his job at our shop.  This particular employee got into his car and drove away after only one hour into his shift.  A few hours later, it came to light that one of the guys had hurt his feelings, which means he no longer has a job, but thank the Lord his feelings are intact.  That’s the important thing.

               On Saturday, Garey and I set out tomato and pepper plants.  We also planted cantaloupe, okra and squash.  We did this with the help of our son-in-law, Scott, our daughter, Natalie, and our granddaughter, Sabria.  Do you know why they helped us?  It’s the same reason your children help you.  They were taught to work.  They were taught to help others.  They were taught to stay until the job is done.  If Garey and I did nothing else right as parents, if Scott’s parents did nothing else right as parents, we got one thing right: We taught our children you work for what you get; you don’t expect it to be handed to you.

               I realize I am preaching to the choir—the choir of working people—when I say it is nearly impossible to find somebody—anybody—who is willing to work, especially during this current climate of government handouts.  One of my favorite suggestions making its way around fb these days says, “Maybe if we tell people there’s a job shortage, people will go back to work.”

               Sometimes, I over-do it, the work thing, that is.  I’ll have to put pain patches on my back, rub Theraworx on my legs and take a couple of Legatrim before I can even think about sleeping through the night.  I never, however, under-do the work thing, and barring a medically induced coma, I never will.  It is simply not in my DNA.

               My ninety-two-year-old mother-in-law is right there with me.  Aggie has the same worries and troubles of the current aging population, but the thing that bothers her most are feelings of uselessness.  Recently, she told me that since her children, Garey and Charlotte, locked the door to her washroom and took the keys to her lawn mower, she feels worthless.  “I might as well be six feet under,” she said.  (To be fair to Garey and Charlotte, her washroom is at the foot of a very steep stairway, and the lawn mower has a stiff clutch that her kids are afraid she won’t be able to stop quickly if need be.)

               Aggie grew up in a family of eight girls.  Their father and mother farmed, and the girls helped.  When Aggie married J.D., they continued to farm.  This was way before the tractors with AC.  Garey and Charlotte grew up hoeing in the fields.  Our children didn’t grow up in the fields, but they grew up hoeing in the garden. 

               Just to be clear, I’m not one of those people who thinks farm work is the only real work.  My son-in-law, Thomas, grew up working on his dad’s and uncle’s shrimp boat in Louisiana.  There are kids in neighborhoods all across this land who mow yards, wash cars, paint fences, clean out garages, help with the cooking and laundry and a million other things that teach them about work and its results.

               The thing about work is that it isn’t just about monetary rewards.  Work produces worth in a person.  Work builds know-how and confidence and hope.  Work and its results carry you through hard times.  Work builds your tomorrow.

               One day last week, I filled in for our office person.  The guys recently hired two high school boys who will be able to work with us this summer.  I’ll have to admit when I came to work that day, I thought to myself, these guys will probably last about fifteen minutes.  I was pleasantly surprised to find, however, that both boys actually knew how to work.  They didn’t stand around waiting to be told what to do, they got right to it. 

               “Well, looka there,” I thought, “there are at least two sets of parents in the world who understand the importance of teaching your children how to work.”  And the cherry on top was they were even polite and mannerly. 

               Maybe, there is hope for other young people—as soon as the stimulus money runs out, anyway.