Jinxed Universe

When my parents started to build their house, I began to understand what work was. Before then, we rarely did our chores, weeded the garden or anything. But, the second my dad purchased the land his house sits on, we had to start working. The land was covered in trees and garbage. We spent weekends there cutting and burning the overgrowth. Then, when our house started to go up, we were there again installing the heating. Then when the house was finished we spent every free day landscaping the yard. This was not an easy feat. When you had to dig the sprinkler trenches out another 6" that the trencher couldn't do, or spending the 4th of July building a block wall taller than you are, you find out what you are made of.

A few years later I quit my janitorial job of work 2 fast hours and get paid for 4, for a full-time job as a hodtender for a mason. Boy, did I make more money, but did I ever earn it. As hodtender, my job was to be at the site before the mason, to get everything setup so when he showed up he would just lay brick. Then as the day goes on, to keep his supply of mortar and brick going and do any odd jobs to keep him doing his job. Then when the mason is done doing his job and leaves, I'm still there cleaning everything up and preping for the next day.

When I would come home I would be dyed various colors from the mortar and absolutely worn out. I would be putting in 8-10 hour days. I would be so tired from lifting mortar and brick up scaffolding and just generally moving it around that I was so physically tired that I would fall asleep the second I got home.

Then at lunch one day I was talking to my boss and he explained that the more I was able to do to keep him laying brick and do everything else, the quicker we were able to get jobs done the more money we made. Because we make the same amount of money whether we take 1 week or 2 months. So, of course the faster we did it the more he made and the more he was able to pay me.

So, with this in mind we went back to work. I worked with this guy for three months, and I gave him everything I had. By the end of those three months he had started me at $7.50 an hour and at the end I was making $10.50 an hour. He even at one point started showing me how to lay brick.

I have kept these two experiences in mind my whole life. I can't tell you how much people are lacking a good work ethic now days. I have tried to give my whole to everything that I take upon my self. But, now days I don't see many hard workers. I see a bunch of lazy farts that think that want their cake and to eat it too. In my business there is a TON of learning involved. We have to be able to diagnose a problem and solve it. Most problems are fairly unique and so you have to be very careful in fixing things that you don't make the problem worse. Especially when you could take down a company at the click of a button. Anyways, in the last year we have hired five different people and all of them found that it was too hard to learn all of the stuff we were asking. We were just trying to get them familiar with a product and not even do anything beyond just knowing what it does.

The only reason higher taxes for the "Rich" are so popular is because everyone wants to work less and get paid more. Since I've been in scouting in this ward I have found that everyone wants to hand the Eagle Scout award to everyone. We have a boy that will be 19 in Feb. He isn't even a Life Scout, but all of his leaders keep telling him that they are going to help him get his Eagle. I have had to help these guys understand that there is no way he is going to get it. That because this boy at one point just dropped off the face of the planet and at the last second wants his Eagle, him and his mother feels like we have let him down. His younger brother was in my troop and we went on a "hike" along Legacy Highway and the last mile I was trying to encourage him and motivate him into going faster than a snail's pace. He kept telling me he was going to call his mom to pick him up because this was too hard. I just kept telling him that the end was is site and to just keep going.

Our stake puts on once a month a required merit badge class. Where the boy just shows up and does what he is asked and can come home with a required merit badge class. I tried to convince my boys into going, but they said it wasn't any fun and that it was hard. So, they didn't go and I told them they will be taking all of the required merit badge classes our scout camp has to offer so they understand that what the stake is doing is nothing compared to what they really need to be doing for these merit badges.

We are loosing our work ethic. How many times do we see people looking for a handout for nothing. Seriously, how many bums do you know who will actually will "Work for Food". They are just looking for an easy buck. How many men do we know who are still attached to their parents for money, shelter, because it is too easy to take it from them.

The only good thing about this recession is that those who really suck at working and need a hard wakeup call will be without a job here. If they are truely hardworkers and can perform they will get jobs and the lazy bums that need to be on the street will either wake up or end up on the street.