Posts
- Boy Scout
- Ski Shop Tuner
- Pizza Cook
- Chef
- Rock Climbing Instructor
- Search and Rescue Team Member
- Security Guard
- Private Investigator
- Process Server
- Bounty Hunter
- Hotel Manager
- Back Country Guide
- Census Worker
- Light and Sound Tech
- Bouncer
- Bodyguard
- Bail bondsman
So, these are not in any order of importance. I also left out jobs that I did for short term employment or quick cash. These are the ones I listed because they meant the most to me, and I learned the most from. Some are way more in depth than what the title explains. Let me explain a couple of examples.
Boy Scout: OK, I was a Scout. I was a Tenderfoot, and I worked through the ranks and had fun at camps like most other scouts. However, when I was fourteen, I went and spent time as a counciler in training, and I became hooked on the whole teaching aspect, and on the brotherhood of camp life. It was fun, it was exciting, and it was a daily adventure. Over time, the Boy Scout motto and the Scout Law became principles of how I still lead my life. It set in stone some of my morals and ethics. I will never say I follow them perfectly, but no matter where of what I am doing, it is something that has been a leading part of my moral compass. What else can I say about this part of my life? Much more. Scouting let me learn how to enjoy being outside in a raging thunderstorm, or spend a day traveling through the woods while black swarms of mosquitoes hovered all around you. Its where I learned that a team of determined people can accomplish impossible goals and tasks all while having fun.
Now I may shine a light on the great moments, but it was also in scouting I learned about human nature, the good and bad of it. I saw and experienced people who would do nothing but take credit for all the work you did. I had works of mine which took months of planning and writing taken from me while another person said it was all theirs. Even in the ranks of those who profess our law and motto the loudest then behind the scenes become the antithesis of the scouting way. Even after seeing this, I realized that it made me stronger, and more determined to do better, and to work harder at being a good person, actually, a great person.
Ski Shop Tuner: Now I am sure you may wonder what life lessons can you learn from waxing skis and working with Ptex. More then you could imagine. Not only did I learn about the ways of fixing a ski, but how to take a ski that most would say are ruined and make them better then the day they were bought. I love skiing. It is a passion for me. Not only the act of skiing, but the whole lifestyle around it. But I digress. I learned that every minor detail most tuners either skip or just ignore makes a major difference while skiing. One skipped detail can make a day of skiing a day in heaven, or a day in hell. I knew that the work I did had an effect on you and your skiing, and my bad work lead to you having a day or week of bad skiing. I never rushed my work, rather, I spent a lot of time making sure that I did the best job I had ever done in my life on your skis. If you asked me which job I did was the best, I couldn't answer you because I made sure that ever ski I worked on was the absolute best work I had ever done. This came from a Taoist story I read once. It was about a craftsman who made furniture. Every thing he did, he worked to make it the best work of his life. No matter how great he did on a work, he would always go back and do everything he could to make the next work better. One day a servant of the king came and asked him if he could buy his best works from him. In return he said "I have not made it yet, and I never will because everything I make is always better then the last." I love this story, and attempt to apply it in my life every day.
Rock Climbing Instructor: Have you ever been climbing? Have you ever felt the rope slide between your fingers while you know someone's life is literally hanging from the other end, and you are the only thing keeping them safe? Have you ever had to well up the energy and power of everything you have in you to attempt a move with the outcome to be a variable, and knowing that when you let it all hang out? Or how about this, have you ever had to convince a child to lower them self backwards from the top of a forty foot tower backwards? These are just some of the challenges my staff and I faced daily at work, sometimes repeating this over three hundred times.
Two memories come to mind when I think of these days. My first one was of a young scout who had never been to camp before. He showed up to my tower on his first day there. He like many other scouts showed up, got equipped by us, and then waited his turn to be belayed up the tower. His turn came, and he tried to climb. He barely made it halfway before you saw him just quit. He tried again and again. Finally, I came over once he was lowered to the ground and saw he was very upset with himself. I asked him what was wrong. He said, "All I wanted to do was just climb this stupid tower, but I suck. I am too weak, and too fat to do this. I hate this place." After hearing this, I questioned him about a couple of things. I asked what had he eaten so far today, to which he answered "Cookies". After that I asked him what had he drank so far today. He answered "Pop". After hearing this, I knew what to do. I told him "Tomorrow, eat a good breakfast, a good lunch, and a good supper. Only drink water, and be here tomorrow night, first in line, and we will get you to the top.". He looked at me and with a questioning look on his face said "OK". At that point he took off his gear and ran off. I really wasn't sure if he'd be back, nor if he would do what I said. When my staff and I walked to the tower for that nights Free Climb, we saw a single figure already standing in line. As we got closer we saw it was the boy from the night before. He watched us approach, and once I was close enough I told him I was glad to see him again, and asked him if he was ready to climb. Instead of a simple yes, he listed every thing he ate that day and informed me that he had drank water all day. My staff laughed as they set up the tower. Once we were ready, we called him into our area, and got him equipped. Once he was done, we tied him into the rope to see what was going to happen. Quickly with a few grunts of effort he climbed non-stop to the top where Dan, my assistant was waiting for him. He got on top, stood up while Dan secured him to the tower. He looked like he just mastered Everest by the look on his face. He was ecstatic. Once Dan was ready, he got on the rappel line and like he had done it a hundred times, bounded to the bottom. He quickly unhooked himself and ran back over to the belay station asking to go again. He did, and he did so until we closed for the night. I didn't see him again. However, Dan and I were sought out by the adults of his troop. When they approached us, we thought we were in trouble, as it was rare for leaders to ever come looking for us. The first thing the boys Scoutmaster asked was "What did you saw to our boy?", slightly afraid and taken aback, I asked "What do you mean?". The adult then explained to Dan and I that after the boy was at our tower he signed up and completed three more merit badges, plus took and passed his swimmers test in which he had not done and was only allowed to wade in the water, and work with his leaders to complete and pass two rank advancements. Dan and I looked at each other and were amazed. Again the leader asked what we had said to cause this. I explained all we told him was to eat well, drink water, and to come back. The leaders not happy with my answer asked again, "What did you say?". As Dan and I said before, we repeated again what we said. The adults thanked us and walked away. I guess they were looking for some magic statement they could use to motivate their boys. I had none. We only treated the boy with respect, and left it with that.
Another story from my time as a climbing instructor involves a very special boy. He was a scout, but very different from the majority of kids you expect as scouts. He was autistic. My memory of him will always be in my mind, and making a point to remember him and his day reminds me about what we all can do if we have a common goal with the common motivation to complete it. One day we had a troop arrive for a private troop climbing session. We did as we always did for a group. We got them all together, explained our equipment and the usage of such along with all other expected operations of our tower. Then the group broke up into small groups to climb. During this time, I wandered around the base looking for people needing more instruction or help. This also gave me a chance to see every one's gear and to ensure safety for all scouts. As the event went on, I saw one scout who was about to climb. He was not as vocal as the others, and seemed scared of the tower. He got tied in with help from one of the staff, and started to climb, however after moving a couple of blocks up, he froze and said loudly "I can't do this!". I was surprised by this as he was only a couple of feet off of the ground. I walked up to where he was on the wall and told him he could do it and not to give up. He looked back up, and moved a couple of feet more but then froze again saying the same thing. At this point one of the scoutmasters explained to me he was autistic. Upon realizing this was going to happen after every few moves, I decided to climb the route next to him. Quickly one of the staff tied into the belay station, and I tied into the rope. After doing this I climbed up to the scout and said I was going to climb with him, and that he could do it. The climb continued with him moving a little bit at a time, stopping with saying he couldn't do it, and me next to him saying he could. After a couple of minutes, he reached the top. He looked down to everyone below with a huge smile and this time exclaimed "I did it!". After being lowered to the ground, he was still beaming proudly with his accomplishment. Now I personally use this story to remind me that sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we believe that we cannot do what we set out to do. Maybe we think it is too hard, or too far, or it will take too long, but, and a big but at that, if we have a helpful voice to keep us going we can do anything. Sometimes the voice is from within, sometimes its from elsewhere, but those voices remind us that we need to keep going.
Now I do not have any stories of how to become rich with money, nor of how to become powerful. My stories usually are of people and the things they did and how it effected me. I write them here hoping that they have an effect on you. Here I explained how I love to take every day and make it better then the last. I share why and how I look through my morals and ethics at others, and a bit of how those things made a difference, even if only small ones.
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