Brian's Jobs

Brian has shown more interest in the blogging world of late and wanted to write a post:

In honor of Labor Day I thought I would write about a couple of jobs that taught me a lot about life,

Recycling- When I was three the original Nintendo came out and my two older brothers and I wanted it and a color T.V. to play it on. My Mom took us to OSU after school every day and we would pick the soda cans out of the trashcans in the classrooms and save them. When we had enough cans we would take them to the recycling plant and get paid for bringing in aluminum. It took us a year to save up to buy a Nintendo and another year to buy the color T.V. It was a great lesson in learning how to work and be patient even at such a young age. 

Paper Boy- When I was twelve I got my paper route. The paper had to be delivered every day and extra early on Saturday and Sunday. I had it for six years and was ready to give it up to my little brother when I was eighteen. It taught me a lot about managing money and working with people. I also learned that the paper needed to be in the right spot at the right time. A few feet could mean the difference in a happy customer and an unhappy customer. A few feet is not much but it can be in some people’s eyes. Sometimes it was not fun to have to wake up early on Saturdays especially once I was going to early morning seminary but it was nice to have some money.

Carpet Cleaner- This was a great job and I learned a lot about money and myself. I worked for a man who owned several businesses but carpet cleaning was his bread and butter. I worked for him for three years and have plenty of gross stories ranging from cleaning up dead squirrels, blood soaked carpet, nasty frat houses but my favorite one came on Christmas day. I was 17 and a junior in high school and was enjoying Christmas with my family. I got a call and someone had a water leak in their basement and I needed to go and clean it up. Since it was the holiday all the other workers were out of town and I was the only one and my boss was having dinner with some friends but said he would come later to help. I got to the house and found that the sewer line had backed up in this guy’s basement. There were 4 rooms soaked with sewage. I started at 7:00 P.M. carrying sewage soaked carpet and padding out of the basement. At midnight my boss showed up, and assessed the damage. We worked till 2:00 A.M and called it a night. I was paid double for my time and made a few hundred bucks working that night. I know my boss made several thousand. I learned two things that night. One, it is good to be the boss. Two, I solidified my goal to get a college education and get a good job. Cleaning up sewage stinks, literally.

My mission- This one is not really a job but I still count it. I had a great time on my mission and love to tell stories from my mission. The stories from my mission center around miracles and good times with other missionaries but what defines my mission in my mind would not be a great story and would not be told. They would go like this, one day it was snowing in Garden City and the wind was blowing 60-70 MPH. My companion and I went out and worked all day and no one let us in. Or once in Alamosa there was a dust storm and you could only see about 10-20 yards in front of you. I had dust in my ears, nose, month, but do you know who we found that day, no one. I have a lot of stories like this but what makes me so proud of them is that I still gave it everything I had. Even when it was hard and nothing seemed to happen I was able to give it my all and that is what I am most proud of. I look back at these days and tell myself. I worked in a blizzard, dust storm, extreme heat, extreme cold and I got the job done. I can do anything.

These experiences shaped me and I am lucky to have had so many opportunities to learn about work. The lessons learned got me though college and into a great job that I enjoy. We should all enjoy the blessings of work and the lessons they teach us.