Ever done any jail time? While I do not have a criminal record (as long as speeding tickets and fines for talking on my cell do not count…) I do feel like I have done a little time. The bars were hidden by thick, slightly padded and upholstered sides. When I was in there, I saw no windows. It was quiet all the time and the most important things to do while you were there were to be quiet, look presentable and agree with whoever was pulling your strings at the time.
Nope, it wasn’t an insane asylum either (though I’m sure there are a few who believe I would benefit greatly from one!) It was a cubicle in a corporate office!
The paycheck was great and I learned things I probably wouldn’t have learned at my previous job at the newspaper. Aside from the backstabbing, gossip and passing blame to the nearest peon, I did learn more about page layout and the programs I do that on.
Going to work there every day gave me a really good idea what church would be like if you took the part about it being spiritually uplifting out. You know, get dressed up in uncomfortable clothes, and go in happy - until you get there. Then keep your mouth shut and listen from 8-5. Do your job, DO NOT make a mistake! Because if you do, The Big Guy is gonna make you pay!!!
Because I worked there during the time when the corporation was nose-diving into it’s own demise, it felt like a daily game of Survivor. Layoffs were happening on an increasingly frequent basis and even the slightest misstep put you further down the path to YOUR demise. It was incredibly frustrating for me to be there. More so because it seemed ridiculous to me to have such a life or death attitude about sales fliers for lawn mowers, string trimmers and birdseed. I mean, REALLY! We are not printing copies of the Bible, here! Of course, mistakes cost money, I do get that. But people are human and they do make mistakes! That is why the words “correction” and “reprint” were invented!
Fiscally speaking, having grown up where I did, I am more about having Enough money, than stepping all over people to ensure I have Way More than Enough. I am about seeing the value in everything and everyone around you, not depreciating their self worth by cutting them down. I am about doing and making things that MATTER! So to freak out about a lawnmower price being printed $100 less than it was supposed to be that week (because it was more than likely on sale for that much the next week anyway...) and threaten someone’s job over it? Stupid! Get a grip! I really did not have the right attitude to attempt to climb any corporate ladder with to be certain…
I turned into a road raging lunatic every day after work. You could not get me away from that place fast enough! The day the tribe decided to snuff out my torch was really not a very bad day. I was a month away from delivering my beautiful daughter and had more to look forward to than to feel bad about. My new career would be much more gratifying than the old. Shaping this new little life, molding her into a confident, happy, self-fulfilled young person… yup, that is a job that matters!
The same is true about working at the farm. We are making something that matters there! People live on this stuff! My husband’s aunt said, at one point, her family went through seven gallons of milk a week! Holy Smoke! Kids grow on what we make every day. The bottom line is always a concern, because you have to be able to pay the bills – and sometimes the income really isn’t enough to do that. OK, a lot of times the income really isn’t enough to do that! So part of the reason people come back to this line of work day after day has to be the knowledge that people are living and growing on the milk we are producing.
I went back to the barn last night after getting home from our trip. So glad to be back! What I appreciated the most was the movement. You definitely don’t get that sitting in a cube all day! Once you start milking, you fall into a rhythm of walking from cow to cow to prep them, (cleaning them off and checking the quality of the milk), then walking back and forth to move the milkers from one cow to the next, then walking back to each one to post-dip (an iodine solution that seals the teats and helps keep bacteria out). Step, step, step, down, up, step, step, step over and over from one end of the barn to the next! In and out between the cows, sometimes stopping to baby one. The speed changes as you go from cows that milk faster, to cows that milk slower; but you rarely stop. I love it!
All that walking day after day on hard cement does not appear to be very good for feet and knees. But it is great for the soul! The only true politics in the barn revolve around discussion of ACTUAL politics. Gossip is usually light hearted and not malicious. Because I don’t milk with the same person every shift, you get new info and different perspective every day. How cool is that?
Some day soon, the kids will be old enough to get off the bus and be at home alone for a little while until someone gets home from work. I hope when that day comes, I have figured out a rewarding career that allows me to keep milking cows. I am just not made to do hard time!
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