The Notorious Work Ethic

Teamster Daughters learned early on that to succeed in life you gotta work hard for the money.

Never one to be lazy himself, Teamster Daddy had little patience for those who were healthy and able but had no drive or determination. His motto was simple: you had to to earn your way in life. The only thing that comes for free is the air you breathe. And even that had a price on it.

Maybe his strong work ethic stemmed from the fact that T-Daddy was left fatherless at a young age. His own father died much too young and left a wife and four young children behind. T-Daddy had to grow up real fast, so he was well prepared. Grandaddy Bub as his father was called was a hardworking man himself. He taught T-Daddy the things that made him a Teamster success. Any man, woman or child who was healthy and able, should work for what they received and in return, they would reap the rewards ten-fold.

Maybe Grandaddy B was the original T, even though he was never initiated into the IBT. He knew the meaning of hard work. He believed that to help your fellow man was a paramount deed and that it was a personal responsibility to help those in need. This lesson came from a man who'd lost a leg early in life to illness. His was quite a powerful example for young T-Daddy to follow.

Teamster Daddy made it a father's mission to teach his daughters to push and ride a mower (not just for fun, but to mow the lawn) to learn the difference between a hammer and screwdriver (in order to use them) and to change the automobile oil or a flat tire. Yuk. Even though I absolutely hate getting my hands that dirty, I'll try my best If I find myself there. He also showed us how to use a rake and a shovel, how to paint a dog house, how elbow grease was almost as good as WD-40.

There would be no lounging in luxury if you wanted luxury goods. He despised inertia and applauded motion. He told his T-daughters repeatedly, "You can do anything a boy can do and do it better if you try hard." The key word here was hard. Hard work was expected and rewarded. And the allowance reflected.

Now as I look back on the things T-Daddy taught me, I do what other's also do that they say they'll never do. Compare. But looking at the youth of the Nation up close and personal like I do everyday teaching at a major University, I am constantly frustrated by their sense of entitlement, their so obvious inertia. Their bodies are at continual rest and like to remain in bed until late afternoon. Never in Teamster House would this be tolerated. So if not in my teenage bedroom, then NOT in my classroom.

Many young men and women expect others to do for them what they could do but do not want to do for themselves. I'm not talking scholarship or grants here (those are rewards and rewards are earned). I'm talking about the breaks they want for bad behavior. The obvious gimme gimme gimme plea for the answer, the exam, and for the grade sounds like a bad cd skipping. This brattiness and priviledge for nothing notable behavior is unparalled to the behavior I learned at T-University.

The lazy responses in class, the pitiful excuses for absences, and most recently, the sarcastic, immature e-mail (because some aren't brave enough to whine in person) makes me want to give them an F for Forget the Promotion. One student sent an e-mail that read, " I can't believe I had to walk all the way to class dressed up for a presentation when it was so hot today." Teamster Daughter wanted to file a grievance for having to read such nonsense! If they would let faculty control the thermostat in the classroom, you better believe I'd turn up the heat. That's what T-Daddy would do. I bet your hard earned dollar he would.

So now it's up to Teamster Daughter to set a good T-example and show those 'lazy punks' as T-Dad would call them, that it's time to quit making excuses and stop slacking long enough to see and hear what success looks like. They'll be no lazy bones Jones' in my classroom. If they want to see an A - they'll have to earn it the hard way, by hard work and effort. What was good enough for T-Daughter is much better for them than where they are now.

And even though I didn't always want to mow the yard, dry the dishes, do my homework or study for a test...look who's at the head of the class...