I love sunshine. I walked out this morning, to take Chico out for his morning stroll to empty his thimble-sized bladder and realized what a beautiful morning it is. Today is my Sunday; meaning, I go back to work tomorrow. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have a job to go to. I was having a conversation with my mom the other day and was shocked to realize that I’ve been working for 38 years now. Not solidly, but mostly.
I started working with my father in his Auto Electrical shop when I was ten. Every Saturday morning, with the exception of the last Saturday of the month, he’d get me up at 7:00 and we’d be off to work. I swept, mopped, cleaned, sorted and helped deliver parts to garages and auto part stores. I got paid well and during the summers, I’d fill in for week-long shifts when people went on vacation. I learned how to utilize tools and learned how to replace starters, alternators and all kinds of other things.
My dad would tell me during working hours, I wasn’t his son. I would chuckle and go about doing my job. Working with him and his partner, I’d learn early how important work is in ones daily life and in shaping who one would become in later life.
Dad didn’t want me to take over the family business; he wanted me to be better than that.
He often told me he didn’t want me to have dirty hands.
I think he really wanted me to be a dentist or something like that. I couldn’t do that. I don’t think I could put my hands into some strange person’s mouth on a daily basis.
My fathers hard work and mothers ability to manage money, afforded my brother, Roy and I a very good life. Private education, music lessons for me, dance lessons for Roy.
Family vacations, cars, boats motorcycles and lots of wonderful memories that we made as kids.
Not everything was wondrous. There were some problems in our family life; The Brady Bunch doesn’t exist in the real world. People change. They change political values, religions, jobs, marital status; they change their way of thinking; their values.
My family underwent this. I’ve heard that men go through changes in their 40’s. I didn’t. My dad did. He changed. He still provided and maintained the household; but he was different. I was growing up, going to school, immersed in my own life and issues. My brother continued along with mom guiding him. Dad was around less and less; I tried not to pay attention to this, but it was noticeable.
Dad had no real outlets except for us; and when we began to grow apart, I think he was a little lost. Dad loved fishing, sitting around camp-fires and BS-ing all night long. My brother and I didn’t really enjoy that. We were movie and mall and theme park kids.
Dad went through a rough time; however he never stopped working until he became too ill to work.
I’ve known people; how have NEVER held a job in their lives. They never got up early to go to a job, never had coffee and donuts with friends in the morning. They never brought home a paycheck. Some of these individuals chose to experiment with drugs and alcohol and were trapped in this endless circle of inebriation and run-ins with the law.
My best friend growing up; became one of these guys. He was an awesome worker and was brilliant in his field even when he was under the influence of whatever it may be that he was using. However, he lost his family and the respect of so many people around him. Not his party friends, who were MUCH WORSE than he was. But all this affected his life anyway. Too bad… I hear that nowadays he doesn’t do much; he was sidelined by a serious knee injury a few years ago. I hear he just sits at home and argues with his dad all day and just does his thing and waits for his settlement check to come.
I get tired of working sometimes. 38 years is a long time; and I still have about 25 years to go. Hopefully, I’ll find a way to earn an income that’s easier and maybe even home based. A friend once told me that it’s a great big world out there and that there is so much to do. My question is: how do you find the time to go out and look? When you have a daily job to go to; it’s hard to take the time to go out and look for something different. In our current job climate, it’s dangerous to make any moves. Small business owners are functioning; operating very cautiously. But, change is important in all facets of ones life to stave off stagnation. This is something I am considering right now. It is something I am perpetually contemplating. But for now; it’s my Sunday; laundry day; TV day. Maybe some reading; maybe some writing. Perhaps; I’ll just sit at the piano for a while; do a social cam video and fiddle around on twitter. Have a great day all!