Thank You For Work 11/23/2022

 Good Morning, 

Wow this week is going by fast. I just poured a hot mug of Door County Vanilla Creme Brulee Coffee  and I am ready to write.

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Photo Credit Barrett-Jackson

In 65 years I haven't compiled a very long list of jobs that I worked at. I have been blessed to be employed from a very young age right up to now at various part time jobs and full time jobs. I am grateful for each one, as they all impacted me differently and always in a good way. I was always paid on time and was able to support my needs large and small. 

I first entered the work force (other than shoveling snow and, mowing lawns,) just before the end of my 8th grade year in school. I found a job at a Texaco garage and filling station. Yes, we actually pumped gas, checked the oil, and checked tire pressure on the customer's automobiles. Once school ended for the year, the job turned pretty much into full time hours. I learned a lot about responsibility and showing up on time. I found out what 5:30 AM meant to my boss and just how many people came in for gasoline at that time. 

I held that job until I was 18 years old. I learned how to treat customers, tune up cars, change mufflers, replace brakes and clean a dirty garage. I also learned how to treat employees. I was treated very well and I was treated the same as the forty year old employees were. 

Later in life I stumbled into health care and worked for 36 years for the same employer. I met my wife in one of the hospitals where I worked. The rest of that story is for another time.

No matter what job I had, I always had coworkers. That really is the blessing I enjoyed the most and still do. Many people crossed my path and they all made an impact, good or bad. Each experience I had with people proved to be valuable in one way right then and now or later. I twice worked for the worst managers you could have ever met. I worked for one for six years. I learned how to have respect for the position he held and to wait on God for a change. What I learned from those bad experiences, is how not to treat staff, and then be the  type of leader they weren't. I knew what I wouldn't do. 

When I look back on my work life, I can see many of the faces that I shared a coffee with, worked alongside of them, enjoyed their company and at times grieved with them.  I thank God for the experiences of work, the many memories and  most of all for those I worked for, with and eventually had some work for me. I have no regrets for ever walking into that Texaco Garage and asking if they had any work for a skinny teenager.

Marty