Work

Work is the universal language. Everywhere I’ve traveled I may not speak the language, but if I can do a day’s work with my new friends we will find ourselves bonded beyond language. We will have each others measure. We will understand each other deeply. This is the ethic I teach the crew of Station Maine before we go anywhere.

I grow tired of hearing how this generation lacks a work ethic. I often respond by asking who has shown them how to work, because how to work is something that is much more effective when it is shown rather than “taught”. Who has got out and shoveled the driveway with them? Who has pulled the weeds alongside them? Who has shown them through example that you put your hand to the rake and you don’t stop til somebody comes out of the house with lemonade and calls break time?

It takes a certain amount of maturity to figure out that when you focus on the task at hand and actually DO the work it will get done. It takes a certain amount of adult guidance to get kids to that point. If we give them that, real work and real partnership in getting it done, we will have given them a gift that will guide them for the rest of their lives.