I’ll start by saying that my experience is less typical than many who go into the trades. After I graduated from college, I wasn’t in a particular hurry to start the rest of my life. The thought of sitting behind a desk wasn’t appealing and, at 21, the thought of being there for over 45-50 years was inconceivable.
At the recommendation of my father (an architect), I took a job with a colleague of his, whose company did historic preservation work. I signed on as a laborer/apprentice at something like $7.00 an hour. Ever since I was a kid, I had liked working with my hands…….drawing, building treehouses, go-karts…whatever. The thought of getting paid to do this was appealing, even if the job, at times, was not. In any event, it seemed like a rewarding enough thing to do, until I figured out my true calling.
Before too long, I had to admit to myself that I liked what I was doing. I liked the smell of sawdust. I liked moving around. I liked doing something tangible each day. I liked the fact that I lost 20 pounds and was wiry and strong. There were downsides, sure. Crawling through a hundred year old, dark, 12” high crawlspace filled with all manner of creepy crawlies, feeling like I was about to pass out in the 100 degree heat, or beating the feeling back into my fingers while setting roof trusses in a snowstorm.
For all the downsides though, there were times that more than compensated for them. Hard to believe, but being outside on a glorious autumn day, with the sun in your face, while doing something you love, can almost make you feel like you’re stealing. There are countless others.
One of the most spiritually uplifting feelings I can remember, is standing on a freshly swept 1st floor, getting ready to frame and stand the walls, as the sun began peeking over the horizon. I’m not what you’d call a morning person, but that feeling…of newness….of the act of creation that was about to happen….of what I would have done by day’s end, is a feeling I still remember when I find myself up at that hour. It’s that sense of purpose that says “Today, I am going to DO something real….something that will remain after I’m gone.”
Obviously, I’m a sap, and I’m sure I intellectualize far too much, but I can never understand why someone would NOT want to do what I do. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
What bothers me though, is that I’m sure there are tons of kids who would love to do this work, if only their parents, or their society would tell them it’s OK. I can only speak for where I live, but I get the sense that our school system thinks you’re a failure if you end up in the trades.
When I was younger, the school systems ALL had shop classes…..woodworking, print making, auto mechanics, and on and on. For me, it was a welcome change of pace to put down a book, and work with my hands for awhile, as I suppose it was for many others. It didn’t mean you weren’t using your brain, by the way. You just used it in a different way.
There was an article in the New York Times recently, written by a guy named Matthew B. Crawford. He makes the case far better than I can about the rewards to be had working with one’s hands. It was condensed, I believe, from a book entitled “Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work,”. I haven’t read the book yet, but I loved the article http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?pagewanted=allhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?pagewanted=all
He says a lot of the things that I feel, and I encourage you to read it…….and give some thought to what it means, as he puts it, “to be of use.”
No comments:
Post a Comment