"I know up at the top you are seeing great sites,
But down at the bottom, we too should have rights"
Yertle the Turtle, Dr. Seuss
Yesterday proved to me that every day has some form of inspiration attached to it. It started out as a less than sought-after experience. Ninety-five mile an hour winds bore down on Denverand swirled around our home with a power that only nature can create. In the process, down came this very large tree in our yard, knocking out electricity on our street for many, many hours.
We sat, we froze, we warmed our new puppy in our arms and we wished, fervently wished, for a warm cup of coffee! Yes, a less than perfect day. Thankfully, just before twilight, two crews of stalwart men descended upon our yard, chainsaws and mighty tools in hand, with an awesome task - how to dislodge this large, many branched monster from the wires that were designed to bring us warmth, warm food, light, refridgeration etc etc.
As I watched them work, even I could see the danger these crews faced and at the same time, I was fascinated by the skill with which they worked to free the wires from this very determined tree. It was an extremely difficult job, and one that required knowledge and skill that one only learns on the job and only because the men envolved knew just where to put a rope, just where to saw a branch was the task accomplished, and thank God, not one of these hard working gentlemen was injured.
As if directed by baton, the tree men moved from the scene and 4 gentlemen wearing day lights on their helmets moved in. Our darkening back yard was filled with something that appeared to be aliens from another planet. Up the poles they went, strung new lines they did and moved on to the next pole, the next transformer, and the next deadly serious job that needed to be performed- all in the dark.
I was fascinated by their skill and hard work. I don't know what their salaries were for this job, but they earned every penny. Both the tree experts and the public service workers were performing dangerous tasks. Electrical dangers, falls, and the danger of being crushed by this large tree as it fell were all part of the job these men did with no complaint. I knew they must have had children and wives at home waiting for them as the night sky darkened to black and I knew that as they climbed and prodded and did their job, my world would become more pleasant because of their focus and courage.
Have we begun to lose the respect we had for the working man; the kind that Carl Sandberg extolled; the kind that built this nation and fought its wars? Barack Obama is right. It all begins at the bottom. No CEO works as hard as these men with cleats on their boots. No financial guru makes life more available to more people than the woodsman, the electrician, the train engineer, the airline pilot, the home builder, the carpenter, the road and bridge builders and those who get up very early every morning, put on their helmets and do the job of this country.
I wonder if we have not been incorrect in our ability to judge the worth of our working men and women by sending jobs overseas and keeping the financial experts here. Perhaps we should have sent the financial genius to India and kept the online workers here! They are the heart of America
; it is because of them that America has always been a land of opportunity. It is sad that we have to rebuild that base and the respect for work we once possessed – something we should never have lost."Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."
Abraham Lincoln
