Just show up

"Hard work spotlights the character of people; some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all." – Sam Ewing

I owe both my love of coffee and my work ethic to farm labor. Growing up in Walla Walla, (famous for produce long before it was famous for wineries) I had harvest-related summer jobs. They always started as early as possible, thanks to the sweltering heat – and I learned to start the coffee pot even earlier.

I earned money for college driving a pea combine and a wheat truck. Green pea season was fast and furious: the combines ran 24 hours per day on two back-to-back shifts, 6:00am-6:00pm, and 6:00pm-6:00am. We each got a day off every three weeks whether we needed it or not. I worked days, getting up as early as 3:30 to pack lunch, a gallon of ice water, and various other necessities, and catch my carpool to the field. We'd drive for up to an hour and a half, off the clock, into the Blue Mountains for our 6:00 am start time.

When you work an opposite shift you form a special bond with your counterpart; my relief driver was a sight for sore eyes arriving at 6:00 pm. If he was late, I had to stay. We’d exchange information on how “she” was running; I drove a yellow Chisholm - Ryder with frequent hydraulic leveling abnormalities. But that’s another story.

It was good work, even at minimum wage (we’d joke that it seemed like more, with no time to spend it!) and many people wanted it. It was far better than the processing line jobs inside the pea factory: I got to be out in the great outdoors all day, albeit after a long commute, covered with incessant chaff, dust, (and one notorious year, disgusting "looper" catepillars) in 100+ degree heat and frequently on steep terrain.

Steering my gi-normous rig from the top catwalk with a long stick - at a whopping three miles per hour - I’d sing along with my radio headphones, enjoying the sunshine, fresh peavine-scented air and sweeping views.

I remember an epiphany moment like it was yesterday; I was singing along with Joe Walsh at the top of my lungs. (On a pea combine no one can hear you scream!) “Life’s been good to me so far.” Not good - it was perfect.

The trade off was learning how to get up early and be ready for the carpool, with everything I'd need in a 12 hour day. There was a strict one-strike-you’re-out policy that I never challenged. I wasn't a morning person, but I wanted it so bad I just made it happen.

Fresh out of college with a Bachelor’s in Organizational Psychology, of course I was hired at Boeing as a Drafter. On my first day my first supervisor said if I followed two pieces of advice, I'd do just fine: 1. Show up. (aughh, for another 6:00 am start time!) 2. Always put the maximum possible in your 401(k).

At first I thought it was a joke, but these pearls of wisdom have stuck with me.

• Show up – I’ve come to realize that not everyone had the same training on this one;
• Put money away – manage your own destiny and plan for your future.
  

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” - Jim Rohn

By the way, back to driving a pea combine:

"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence." – Martin Luther King Jr.