Nice reflections, RC. Don't you love it when old photos take you down memory lane? I do that all the time. You're still handsome ;) What great memories.
Coworkers who are great to be around can definitely make unpleasant jobs tolerable and even enjoyable. And when the good ones move on before you do, their absence feels like losing a puppy.
Huck, I loved reading this and getting insight into your life and work. I found it interesting to hear about the dynamics of your job and the people you worked with and how similar it is (and probably always is no matter the job) to my own experience as an educator in New York for over 43 years. I was a teacher and eventually Head of the Elementary Divison of the Riverdale Country School in New York. Even has a School head, I always taught a course and did guest lessons in each class. I love kids and I loved teaching and helping to make a school the best it could be. My two sons went to my school and it worked out very well.
I am now tutoring the son of one of the students I had back in 1968. He's my godson and a terrific kid. But can you believe how far back that was. I am still in communication with many students (so great) and many faculty. We were a family.
YUP...a long way back, but I still love working with kids. I may have shared this, but I'm the children's reader at the Barnes and Noble in Dublin. Each month I pick a book and it goes up on the website and a sign goes up in the store a few weeks in advance. I LOVE IT!!!
I was very lucky to be the right person in the right place at a time when the school was being reconfigured and I was made Head of the Lower School. Orson Welles once said that a movie studio was a boy best toy. I felt the same way about my school. I hated school as a kid, and I wanted our school to make kids eager to come to school each day. Working with the faculty we mapped our curriculum to have a really clear scope and sequence and made learning a joyous experience and at the same time had a challenging (but not overwhelming) academic program.
There were challenges and personality issues, but I managed to take the high road (something that a great mentor taught me) so things tended to work out. I have a feeling that you were very similar in that way.
Oh, one funny story. I taught an in depth English course in the 4th grade and I spent two months with each class so I had every kid in the school including my two sons. The evening before I was going to start in my younger son, Brian's, class he came into the bedroom and said, "What should I call you tomorrow?" I said, "Everyone knows your my son, so you call me dad, like you always do." 'Dad' the best word in the world!!
It’s funny, I haven’t really thought about it like that before. I think my enjoyment of not working my former job outweighs any sentimentality I have for the people at that job.
My worst experience was in Spain, working in an international school teaching History. The Spanish owner/principal would have a screaming fit and sack a teacher on the spot and frogmarch them out of the school; then the following day she would beg them to come back. While I was there, several teachers came and went; one poor woman had a nervous breakdown. Thankfully I managed to keep my head down and survived a year; then to my relief she sacked me.😂
Bittersweet... It is always about the people who share our life path, especially at work - besides the immediate family, of course. Work relationships can make or break you.
Thanks for sharing here. Enjoyed the photo too. I believe I was fortunate to create most of my own jobs and still do on my terms..part-time. I do though have plenty of memories of people I'm still friends from and those I would rather have not worked with:-).
Nice colleagues can things more pleasant at work, nasty ones can make it feels like hell at work
Very true, Mika.
Thanks for reading.
Nice to see you.
Nice reflections, RC. Don't you love it when old photos take you down memory lane? I do that all the time. You're still handsome ;) What great memories.
Thank you, Marce.
Great to see you again.
😘
Coworkers who are great to be around can definitely make unpleasant jobs tolerable and even enjoyable. And when the good ones move on before you do, their absence feels like losing a puppy.
Agreed, Nancy. There is a loss, for sure.
I now find myself checking the obituaries weekly. Seeing who's there, did I know them, did I know of them. Were they customers? Neighbors?
BTW, my career began in 1977 @ Imperial Valley Lumber, working in Lumber through 2008.
Motto: "We Got Wood". LOL
Wow, a fellow lumberman. Cool!
Barstow, right?
I stay away from obits, they are too sobering.
Thanks, mate.
Brawley & Imperial, line yards.
Barstow was large, linked up with a couple of large framing crews.
Huge volumes, not enough profit.
I liked my little yard, had a crew of 11, worked at being part of the community.
Brawley is near the Salton Sea, isn’t it?
I was through that area a few times, long-haul trucking, before I went back to Parr.
Do you miss that lumber yard smell?
Loved the lumber business.
98% of suppliers, customers, employees all became good friends.
Yes Brawley, south east of Salton Sea.
Hot summers, mild and dry winters.
Like farming, lumber is a down-to-earth business. In many places, this industry is the glue for a community.
🙏
Huck, I loved reading this and getting insight into your life and work. I found it interesting to hear about the dynamics of your job and the people you worked with and how similar it is (and probably always is no matter the job) to my own experience as an educator in New York for over 43 years. I was a teacher and eventually Head of the Elementary Divison of the Riverdale Country School in New York. Even has a School head, I always taught a course and did guest lessons in each class. I love kids and I loved teaching and helping to make a school the best it could be. My two sons went to my school and it worked out very well.
Sandy, I appreciate you sharing that. It’s always interesting to me to hear of others’ journeys.
All those years with the same employer. Wow!
I’m sure you are missed and that many of your students were fond of you.
🙏
I am now tutoring the son of one of the students I had back in 1968. He's my godson and a terrific kid. But can you believe how far back that was. I am still in communication with many students (so great) and many faculty. We were a family.
A career to be proud of, Sandy.
‘68? That’s a ways back, for sure.
🙏
YUP...a long way back, but I still love working with kids. I may have shared this, but I'm the children's reader at the Barnes and Noble in Dublin. Each month I pick a book and it goes up on the website and a sign goes up in the store a few weeks in advance. I LOVE IT!!!
👍
I was very lucky to be the right person in the right place at a time when the school was being reconfigured and I was made Head of the Lower School. Orson Welles once said that a movie studio was a boy best toy. I felt the same way about my school. I hated school as a kid, and I wanted our school to make kids eager to come to school each day. Working with the faculty we mapped our curriculum to have a really clear scope and sequence and made learning a joyous experience and at the same time had a challenging (but not overwhelming) academic program.
There were challenges and personality issues, but I managed to take the high road (something that a great mentor taught me) so things tended to work out. I have a feeling that you were very similar in that way.
Oh, one funny story. I taught an in depth English course in the 4th grade and I spent two months with each class so I had every kid in the school including my two sons. The evening before I was going to start in my younger son, Brian's, class he came into the bedroom and said, "What should I call you tomorrow?" I said, "Everyone knows your my son, so you call me dad, like you always do." 'Dad' the best word in the world!!
Endearing share, Sandy.
Thank you.
Sandy, I would have loved to have my children under your tutelage.
A fine educator and mentor, no doubt.
Thanks for sharing.
It’s funny, I haven’t really thought about it like that before. I think my enjoyment of not working my former job outweighs any sentimentality I have for the people at that job.
Understood, mate.
If given the option, I wouldn’t go back either. Retirement fits me. Haha!
Thanks, mate.
My worst experience was in Spain, working in an international school teaching History. The Spanish owner/principal would have a screaming fit and sack a teacher on the spot and frogmarch them out of the school; then the following day she would beg them to come back. While I was there, several teachers came and went; one poor woman had a nervous breakdown. Thankfully I managed to keep my head down and survived a year; then to my relief she sacked me.😂
Trish, some workplaces are like that. Toxic and dysfunctional.
I used to tell people this about jobs: You were looking when you found your current job, right?
Change jobs like underwear.
Bittersweet... It is always about the people who share our life path, especially at work - besides the immediate family, of course. Work relationships can make or break you.
They are indeed a large part of our lives.
Thank you, Valerie.
Thanks for sharing here. Enjoyed the photo too. I believe I was fortunate to create most of my own jobs and still do on my terms..part-time. I do though have plenty of memories of people I'm still friends from and those I would rather have not worked with:-).