A Little More to It

I met an interesting older gentleman at a show the other weekend.

I was blowing a vase as he watched from a distance. He kept inching closer, and  before long he was close enough to ask questions. I love it when people are seriously interested and wowed by the process more than just the pretty piece that sits on the table at the end of the day. Of course we love it when people like the finished product. That's what pays the bills. But life has got to be more rewarding than money, and so for me, I find more joy in making things and showing the process to people, especially kids, than actually selling something.

As I was talking to the older gentleman about the glass, he asked where our shop was located. I mentioned that our shop wasn't open to the public, but that we live out in the boonies and just went to shows and did the occasional workshops at the house. From that the topic shifted a bit to how he sold his house at the lake and bought a farm out in the middle of nowhere and how he loved living out in the woods too. Him and his wife loved the lake but after living there they soon decided it was just too many people. The first chance that he got, he sold the house and threw the boat in with it for free.

I asked what he did for a living and he told me that before he retired, he worked on sawmills, not cutting lumber, but getting the mills to cut straight. 

Interesting job, I thought. “Just the small band saws and stuff around here?” I asked. 

“No. Everything from small mills to the great big ones in Canada and out west. I fixed a small mill for a guy here in West Virginia that couldn't get his mill to cut straight. I went out there and after a few hours we had his mill working like a charm. He asked what he owed me. I could tell he was dirt poor and didn't have a dime. I said just pay whatever you think. He came out with a jar of moonshine. Now I don't drink but I said that'll work just fine.”

Then he told me about another time a company called him to see if he would go to Africa. He didn't want to go, so he just told them he'd go for three thousand dollars a day. They took the offer and so he felt like he had to go. When he got there, the mill was surrounded by armed guards and he said he just didn't like it. Their timbering methods were nothing like the ones here in America and it looked like they were just totally destroying everything. There was no electricity and everything was run by engines or generators. He stayed for ten days. When his plane landed in Pittsburgh, he was so thankful to be back home that he almost kissed the ground! He decided that he would never be doing work in Africa again.

His two stories pretty much showcased the opposite ends of the types of sawmills that he worked on. I could tell that he was just as happy, or maybe even more so, to have helped the little guy in return for pretty much nothing, as he was about the big money that he made from the operation in Africa. As he started telling about some of the mills that he worked on in Canada, it became apparent that he really loved what he did and took pride in the fact that he could true up a mill and get it to cut with precision.  It made for a really interesting chat for a half hour or so while his granddaughter was getting her face painted. 

As I was thinking back on the weekend, I couldn't help but think about our conversation, about the different jobs that we all have, and how hopefully they aren't just about making money. 

Of course life comes with the curse that we have to make money, and so we work with that in mind. But at the same time, we all have opportunities to be generous or find non-monetary value in our work. Maybe that doesn't look the same for everyone, but I'm sure that we can all find ways to do it. 

Pretty good chance that I’ll never trade glass for moonshine. On the other hand, maybe I will. It's not all about the dollar bill.

Thanks for the reminder ole timer!