The Jobs I have worked – Tom Sawyer wannabe

This is the job I did not get paid for monetarily but man did it teach me some things.

It was during the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school. I had applied for a job at a local grocery store; however, with the baseball demands I had, I could not commit to the time they required. Umpiring was not a real possibility anymore since I was playing more games than I had previous with playing JV and Varsity Legion baseball. So I would just relax around the house or hang with friends during the day. Well, to my parents, that was for some reason unacceptable.

Coincidentally during this time, my parents were starting to redo their white picket fence around the yard. So, before they were going to have it professionally painted, they needed to sand off the old paint and get it prepared. You see where this is going.

So I would go out there for several hours a day, never complaining and thanking God for such a great opportunity to learn the true meaning of working hard. Okay, so I may think that now, but not then. My mother and I would fight about this ALL the time. I am sure my father would attest to this simply because he I am sure got calls at work about me complaining. I still would go out there and do the work, even while friends gave me crap about it.

I always equated work with money growing up and that was it; however, this job taught me that when a job is completed and you might get a few bucks, there is a greater satisfaction in knowing YOU completed something. It took me awhile to see that but I look back on this experience and besides needing to apologize to my parents (especially my mother), it was something I NEEDED and appreciated.

Next time – Bag them groceries!!!