Today I did my first day of real manual labor since my college years. It’s funny how quickly all your skills and your knowledge of the tricks of the trade come back to you. I remembered some of the tools I needed – like a good paint scraper, a small bucket for cleaning brushes and that goofy little S hook for hanging a paint can from a ladder. I also remembered spoken lessons.
Back in my laboring days my Dad taught me lots of stuff. Don’t drive off the men’s tee with a 5 iron. Measure twice, cut once. Don’t throw away the nails with the head on the wrong side – they can be used on the other side of the house. Important stuff like that. Of all the things my Father taught me whilst laboring the best and worst was this:
A job worth doing is worth doing well.
We’ll call this Dad’s First Law. It’s a wonderful concept. It binds you to always doing your best. If you’re going to undertake a project, do it right. Take no shortcuts, permit no half-measures.
It is also a horrifying concept. It means taking no shortcuts and permitting no half-measures. That little voice can be a real pain the arse sometimes. Which brings me to the second best and worst thing I ever learned laboring. I call that Little Brother’s Corollary to Dad’s First Law:
But what if the job’s not worth doing?
Admittedly my brother was never cut out for the laboring life. I may not have liked spending eighteen hour days in August hunched over on a black asphalt roof nailing shingles in but I also was willing to bow to the inevitable and make the best of an accomplished fact. My brother fought all the way. If he thought it an unwise use of his time and resources he’d be as bitter as his waking moment from dawn til dusk seven days a week no matter the task.
His corollary to Dad’s First Law, however, is brilliant. It doesn’t give you a license to slack off. It does, however, demand that you evaluate each task to determine whether it’s worth doing. Not in a petty – I’d rather watch TV than sweep the sidewalk – sense, but in a real test of efficiency and worthiness. I cannot tell you how many times in my former, computer-centric life, I did not hear the irritating voice of the First Law demanding I do the job, the whole job and nothing but the job followed by the blessedly meek voice of the Corollary demanding that I examine my plan and make absolutely sure that I wasn’t wasting any motions. Making sure I was acting out of sheer necessity and with utmost efficiency to do right the job that really needed to be done at all.
It’s a different world, earning your bread by the sweat of your brow. I rather like it.
But then again, I only worked for one day out of five and slacked two days to indulge myself in other entertainment. So, I might be following the Corollary more strictly after all.