Hubby's first job ever was at Wawa....working the night shift. His first year there I was still in high school. He would call me as soon as he got off work which was supposed to be 7:00 am, but always ended up being around 8:15 am. I would duck into the bathroom, hiding my phone from teachers, and say a quick hello. Because of the sun glaring into his bedroom and the inner body alarm we all have that says, "Hello! Something is wrong! You shouldn't be sleeping right now!", on an average day, he ended up getting roughly six hours sleep. On weekends, which he always worked, he would give up on trying to get any extra sleep and by 2 pm he would be over my house. At 10:30 pm he would throw on his uniform and head out to another night shift. Sundays were even better. He would finish working at 8:15 am, run home to sleep for an hour, two if he was lucky, then meet up with me at church. From church, he would stay with me and my family for lunch and until it was time to get ready for the next night shift.
Within a year of working there, he was 'promoted' to shift manager. Now he worked even harder and he stayed even later.
Throughout his Wawa days and even when hubby hung up his apron and started his first internship in accounts payable, I would always complain about how much he worked. I saw a job as something you put in your eight hours for and then you walked away from. (As a teacher, I now see this from a much different perspective). I complained that he worked too late, he worked too hard. 'It's only Wawa!" I would say.
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| An oldie but a goodie: Hubby and me hanging out before night shift. |
My younger self was spoiled. She was a hard worker, but she was spoiled. (Let's be real, my older self is spoiled too). She didn't have to work hard in the way my husband had to.
College? Paid for by her parents.
First car? Paid for by her parents.
Extracurricular activities? Paid for, you guessed it, by her parents.
She was blessed beyond compare, knew how to be a hard worker, but didn't understand for what reason she needed to be a hard worker.
My hubby got it. You work hard, you have a positive no quit attitude towards your position and you build a work ethic which carries with you when you reach the position you actually have been dreaming about. From slicing rolls at Wawa to balancing private equity accounts, it all falls onto the same playing field in the world of work ethic. Employers want to hire employees who will work. How do you prove that you can work? Through sticking it out in jobs that might not always be so glamorous and glorious as we all hope a job under the category of "Entry Level" would be like.
Good positions, good pay don't magically appear. Good positions are built from the sweat, the tears, the sleep deprived moments of someone who recognized that their first job is only the beginning.
Last night, after I had been home for three hours already, I got the text that I absolutely love to receive from hubby, "Working late". When he finally did get home at 9:10 pm, we had barely said hello when his Blackberry started up with the buzzing and frantic wailing of some unsatisfied client. Within an hour, he was back on the computer, logged in and working until 1 am while I was snuggled up in bed asleep.
He was also back to work bright and early this morning.
So what am I trying to say here? I hardly am trying to debate an issue or go on a rant about the fact that the American government is out of control, this you already know.
Ultimately my point boils down to this:
1. I love my husband.
2. I'm proud of my husband.
3. My husband's work ethic (though at times, yes, frustrates me) is an expression of his love for me.
4. Every accomplishment he reaches is all the more satisfactory when I think back to times like last night when I barely got to spend time with him and he was up late working hard.
5. If you want something in life, you'll have to work hard for it. If you refuse to work hard, don't whine and complain to the rest of us.
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