Working Class

Sam had his first day of work yesterday. He’s taken over a job that Helaina held until a year or so ago- sweeping and maybe eventually helping Bob- a local woodworker that I had known from years ago.

I wasn’t sure how this was going to work out for Sam or Bob. Sam will work hard when he knows what to do, but sometimes that takes a fair amount of repetition for him to get the details of what you want. It can require a lot of patience. Thankfully, Bob is the ideal person for this kind of requirement.

So the deal was that Sam had to call Bob before going to school in the morning to remind Bob that he would have to pick Sam up at home when Sam got back from school at 3:00. I would then pick Sam up from Bob’s shop at 5:00. This would be his two hours of work for the week.

I stopped home first to get dinner going for Sam (he had requested mashed potatoes), and then headed over to Bob’s to get him. When I pulled up to the shop, Bob was standing outside, talking on his cellphone. As I pulled up and got out of the car, Bob finished his call and went over and poked his head in the shop door, calling over to Sam, “Sam, you can wrap it up. Your Dad’s here.”

I asked Bob how it went. “Great.”, he said. “He’s a sweeper.” I asked him if there was any problem knowing what to do; if he seemed to get it. Bob looked at me with that patented Bob "What do you mean" type look, and asked what I was talking about.

He reminded me, “Don’t forget, he came in with Helaina a couple of times and she showed him exactly what to do.” I hadn’t forgotten. I wondered if Sam knew how lucky he was to have, like I have, a big sister who looks out for him. I’m pretty sure he knows.

Bob and I went into the shop. Sam was wrapping it up. He looked like one big ball of sweat- with his tee shirt clinging to him and his hair all matted down. But he was happy- and he got paid.

When we got home, Sam washed up and I got him dinner- a pork chop, some apple sauce and a big plate of mashed potatoes. All in all, a pretty good beginning for his working career and a pretty good end for his first day of work.