You got time to lean you got time to clean. That was one of the favorite motivational quotes by my managers at Leo’s Steak Shop. I started there when I was 14, a freshman in high school, and not nearly as mature as I thought I was at the time. The small kitchen was unbearably hot at times, and the walks to the walk in freezer 40 feet out back were unbearably cold at times, but just as fast as the workdays began they always ended, and those long, uncomfortably cold or hot walks home were always so satisfying for some reason, even if I was only making $5.15 an hour.
I believe in hard work paying off.
I remember arguing with my mom about getting the job when I did, about how I should be focusing on school not work, and that I’m too young. I’ll never forget my brother’s defense of the decision, “It’ll teach him a good work ethic.” Those words stuck with me, and the owner of the shop, with his “time to lean equals time to clean” attitude, certainly backed up my brother’s argument. I may not have made much, but I was able to save, because that money was earned, and I simply didn’t have the time to spend much money between work and school and rest in between.
Growing up in Delaware County, just outside of Southwest Philly, most of the kids my age weren’t working at the time, at least in legal endeavors. The kids who sold drugs or robbed cars with their older brothers or cousins definitely made more money than me, and I can’t say it didn’t tick me off a certain way at the time, but with my family legitimate work was really the only option. I had the very real fear of my dad killing me if I ever did something so stupid, or maybe just a very real fear of losing his respect. My dad is a union painter supporting six kids, and has been for as long as I have been alive. I’ve never seen him miss a day of work unless he wasn’t allowed to for some holiday. No matter how sick or how late he was hanging out with a neighbor the night before, he was always there when his co workers depended on him being there.
I saw this every day for 14 years, and saw it in all of my older siblings in work and school. As a young man entering the working world my first boss, who was good friends with my dad, reflected these same work ethics, but that’s not to say I wasn’t exposed to the opposite. As a 22 year old man who has consistently been in the workforce, there is never a shortage of negative influences. There was always a jealousy towards the kids making money the fast way, not living under the influence and intimidation of a hardworking father figure or role model, or simply not caring, but in the long run their story almost always involved livelihood damaging events; arrests, leaving school behind, unwanted pregnancies.
As much as we all like to complain that “work sucks,” I have no idea who I would be without it. I know I definitely wouldn’t be myself. Looking back over the past 8 years, I don’t know if there is anything more valuable to me than the “work ethic” my brother told my mom I was about to get when I was 14, and I’m not sure what silly things I spent my extra little bit of cash on over the years, but I am sure that those hours of working were worth it. I may have saved enough for a couple cheap cars over the years, but the experience itself and work ethic that came with it is far more valuable to me at this point than the limited financial comfort, especially considering all of the positive experiences I’ve had with work, and all of the potential negative experiences I could have had outside of work.
I believe in hard work paying off.