Really, I Think We’re Going to Be Just Fine

Still working in WV, through the Grace and Generosity of the LofM. The life she is so different here that I feel at a loss to explain it.

There’s a steady stream of young men showing up at the job site just to ask for work. I finally hired a new guy after he showed up to work three days in a row--that’s when I learned he had been walking here from Ohio for six bucks an hour. Walking. From Ohio. Circa 13 miles. He’s been living in an RV with no running water. I offered him a shower and use of our washer and dryer. He suggested working two days without pay as compensation. He ate three bowls of pork stew.

JA has been working for me since I got here. Yesterday he showed up with a toothache. It’s even worse today. He’s got no insurance so I called up my childhood dentist and told him I needed him and needed him cheap. He says he doesn’t do charity. I said I’m an atheist who is willing to pay and if he’s a Christian he ought to act like it. Looks like a root canal. Treatment provided at a discount. JA will work it off.

DW needs to work until he heads off to the Army’s basic training in August. JW, painfully shy, is thrilled to have a boss who actually learns his name. Came by on Sunday for BBQ. Stayed long enough to eat, do the dishes, walk the dog, and carry the exhaust fan four blocks. It was 95 degrees F.

JC, the hardest-working man I know, asked for help studying for the building contractor’s license exam. The library doesn’t carry the study guides but it will soon. Thanks to the LofM, I bought the books and sweet-talked the librarian at the public library into keeping them available as reference guides. JC knows the technical stuff, I’m just guiding him through business law. Today, JC gave me a cordless drill and a socket set. Kind of a thank-you present.

SH showed up today with a gash on the side of his face. A rock flew up from under the lawn mower when he was working at his sister’s place and it cut and bruised him just next to his eye. He thinks he can still work but he needed someone to clean and bandage his injury and that was me. No insurance.

Mark is thrilled that he just got joint custody of his son. Brad wants a letter of recommendation which I will give him when the big windows are finally framed in. Every one of them has been showing up for my Thursday Night Business Law Study Session. Two weeks ago they were so happy with my “lease versus buy” presentation they brought me flowers. Stolen from my own yard.

About half of them are Army veterans who were very interested in the history of Memorial Day. Today I’ve had stomach problems. Each one of them stopped by to check on me. These young men are all under 26 years old---smart, strong, caring, skilled and capable. If they represent the future, we’ve got nothing to worry about.