Big Picture Sunday
Service and Work Ethic
Sunday is good thinking time. And it's a prime opportunity to not think about technology and/or work. So that's how I like to spend my day.
My seventeenth and eighteenth summers were spent picking and planting pineapple in Hawaii. It sounded great the first year. All summer spent in an island paradise. Call that a big misconception.
The second year was my fault. I liked working hard and being away from home for an extended period of time. Both years were similar. The first week was 40 hours. Day shift started with a whistle blowing at 4:30 (yes, AM). Shower, eat breakfast and report by 6:00 AM. Ride to the fields and begin picking by 6:30. One half hour break during the day and then return by truck to at 3:00 PM.
During the second week our work day was extended to 5:00 and Saturday was added to our schedule. By the third week we were working seven days a week and staying out until 6:00 on most days. Then some of the picking crews were put onto the night shift.
Others of us were placed on the planting detail. It was difficult work. I remember one kid from Garden Grove, CA. The average guy on my crew planted about 5,000 crowns per day that first week. We worked up to about 6,500 crowns per day as we got better. Mr. Garden Grove was pretty happy the first day when he planted something like 563 pineapple plants. By the end of the second day he had a total of less than 1,000 crowns.
The poor kid was really struggling. Several of us helped him finish his square. Each square held about 12,000 plants. By the middle of the third day we were ready to move to the next field and without help Mr. Garden Grove would have been left behind.
It really wasn't his fault, at least not completely. He had never been taught to work. On the other hand my dad was all about work. When I was 15 he moved our family to a 17 acre farm in Farmington. My summers were spent irrigating a 2 acre garden and a hundred or so fruit trees.
The next year he bought a cow. I got the morning milkings. Add the fact that I picked apricots and cherries for a local orchard and you can pretty much figure out how I spent my teen years. I certainly didn't have any appreciation for my dad at the time. My experience with Mr. Garden Grove gave me my first glimmer of understanding.
I've tried to do the same for my children. The self-indulgent summer filled with endless trips to Lagoon, late night television and sleeping past noon really bugs me. So the deal at my house in the summer is this: For every hour spent in a service project the children may play for an hour. This method is simple to understand, simple to administer, and doable for younger as well as older teens.
I don't even specify what that service should be. It can be as simple as going to a friend's house and cleaning rooms. It can be gardening or mowing the lawn, free of charge, for grandma. Almost anything qualifies. I will even accept spending time learning about service opportunities.
I don't know if this has done any good at all. Only time will tell. For sure my kids[base '] friends have thanked me more than a few times. Service work for friends seems to be the preferred activity.
It's unlikely that I would have praised my dad for getting the cow or moving us to a farm. It certainly didn't occur to me that work was good for me during my teenage experience.
All I want to do is teach my kids that they have a responsibility to make this world a better place. The only way for that to happen is if they give more than they take. A good work ethic and service opportunities seem to be the right place to start.
That's all for now.......
6:05:30 PM 
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