Work is good for the individual
- Kyle Snyder: Live on Purpose
- August 31, 2019
- 1076
I started my first job at 14. I worked through a summer job program call JTP. I think it stood for job training program. I know. How ironic, right?
I went from eight to noon. We had to go to class every Monday. It was reading and math classes. We also had guest speakers come in and talk about drugs, alcohol, how to go for a job interview and how to save money. Tuesday through Friday I worked at the Training Center helping the maintenance crew. It was me and about five or six other teenagers working together.
We would wash down walls, paint, pull weeds, spread mulch in the flower beds and just do other odd jobs. I was only allowed to work four-hour days under state law. We would work from the middle of June until the first weeks of August.
When I turned 16, I started working all day, first at the Training Center in the morning and then at a daycare in the afternoon. I didn’t like working at the daycare to begin with, but it grew on me over time. I worked at the daycare for two years. Then I worked at Goodwill in the afternoon after I got done at the Training Center. I stayed at Goodwill for three years until I was too old to be in the job program.
I think I was 20 when I was let go from my job at Goodwill through the job program. I didn’t know what to do with myself at first. I am not one to just sit around and do nothing all day. I wanted to do something meaningful with my life, not just take up space.
I started to read. It was the first time since high school that I began reading. I really enjoyed it. I finally took an odd job at a gas station filling up the pop machines. Over time I did get a little part-time job at McDonald’s, then my job I have now at Wal-Mart.
I love working. There is nothing like laying one’s head down on a pillow at night knowing a hard day’s work was done. Unfortunately too many people who could work choose not to work.
Now hear me. I’m not talking about people who can’t work. I’m talking about those who won’t. There are a lot of people who are so disabled they can’t work, who if given a chance would work. What is even more sad and can make me cry is some people don’t believe they can work because they were told all their life they will never amount to much.
I need to get on my soap box for just a moment. Anytime an adult tells a child they will never amount to anything, they should be ashamed of themselves. Yes, some teenagers look like they may never get their act together, but so many times they grow up into responsible adults. We should not just write off kids because of the way they act. After all they are just being kids.
There are many jobs out there that need to be filled. It is never too late to learn a new skill or a new job. People who say they are too old to learn are just making an excuse to not learn something new.
As long as your mind is still good, you can learn at any age. We like to come up with excuses when we don’t want to do something, but sometimes in life we must do what we don’t want to do. It’s called pushing through and doing it anyway. It’s not forever; it’s just for a time. Sometimes in life we have to do what we don’t want to do.
Find a good part in it and try to enlarge the good part of the job. Don’t get caught up in the drama of people around you. Just stay focused on your job. You will not miss the drama and probably will like your job better. If nothing else works, look for another job but don’t quit until you get another job.
Hard work pays off big time in more ways than just money.