Take a Day Off
Unless you don't work at all...then spend the day working somewhere.
Just to change it up.
My first job was at the age of 14. I picked berries.
It sucked.
I went from there to picking peppers and tomatoes. We worked the fields till we got our back burned. I was trying to get my facts learned.
'Baby I got my facts learned real good right now.'
Went from there to a grocery store. I bagged groceries while staring at the cashiers. It was more a social job than a wage-earning one.
I learned to drink beer during that stint.
And the beer drinking came in handy during my years as a Union Laborer. I was making money hand-over-fist. I worked real, real hard. Shackled and Drawn.
Knew I didn't want to work that hard.
But could never leave the construction field. To this day the most honest guys I know break their backs for a living.
When I graduated college I took a few jobs. I've been lucky. I've gotten out of bed with a destination in mind every day since 1986.
26 years and counting. Up and out.
Give them a better day than what they expected when they hired me.
I can honestly say that with the possible exception of a couple of days I've done that. (The day after the Rod Stewart concert back in the 90's was a lost day). Dad taught me: 'If the guy next to you is working hard, work harder.'
And that's the basic premise, right?
Yet in all those years of being out there, I've seen a shift.
Don't get me wrong: A lot of people still work hard, but there are way more people out there who don't believe in the creed mentioned above.
"What can you do for me?"
It saddens me that there's a lot of that going on these days.
Personal days?
"Get sick on your own time," my first labor boss told me.
Family Leave Act?
Your family is better off if you're working.
Hurt?
"Did you punch out as soon as you did this?" My boss asked me as I held a rag around a bloody hand back at the grocery store.
We both laughed, but you know what?
I felt bad for costing him time.
So, take a day off. Appreciate your job, and tomorrow, when you get back in the saddle, remember a couple of things:
1). It's a privilege to work.
2). Do more than they expect.
It's not about them.
It's about you.
Just to change it up.
My first job was at the age of 14. I picked berries.
It sucked.
I went from there to picking peppers and tomatoes. We worked the fields till we got our back burned. I was trying to get my facts learned.
'Baby I got my facts learned real good right now.'
Went from there to a grocery store. I bagged groceries while staring at the cashiers. It was more a social job than a wage-earning one.
I learned to drink beer during that stint.
And the beer drinking came in handy during my years as a Union Laborer. I was making money hand-over-fist. I worked real, real hard. Shackled and Drawn.
Knew I didn't want to work that hard.
But could never leave the construction field. To this day the most honest guys I know break their backs for a living.
When I graduated college I took a few jobs. I've been lucky. I've gotten out of bed with a destination in mind every day since 1986.
26 years and counting. Up and out.
Give them a better day than what they expected when they hired me.
I can honestly say that with the possible exception of a couple of days I've done that. (The day after the Rod Stewart concert back in the 90's was a lost day). Dad taught me: 'If the guy next to you is working hard, work harder.'
And that's the basic premise, right?
Yet in all those years of being out there, I've seen a shift.
Don't get me wrong: A lot of people still work hard, but there are way more people out there who don't believe in the creed mentioned above.
"What can you do for me?"
It saddens me that there's a lot of that going on these days.
Personal days?
"Get sick on your own time," my first labor boss told me.
Family Leave Act?
Your family is better off if you're working.
Hurt?
"Did you punch out as soon as you did this?" My boss asked me as I held a rag around a bloody hand back at the grocery store.
We both laughed, but you know what?
I felt bad for costing him time.
So, take a day off. Appreciate your job, and tomorrow, when you get back in the saddle, remember a couple of things:
1). It's a privilege to work.
2). Do more than they expect.
It's not about them.
It's about you.
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