We often hear that the young people of today don't care about much, don't have a strong work ethic and don't have heart like in days gone by. I would argue differently and I offer my summer crew as proof. In thirty plus years of employing young people I've found hundreds of young men and women I was proud to call crew and friends too. I believe if we truly expect the very best of people and do our best to help them achieve it they will live up to our expectations. My current crew certainly did all that and more.
For the last three months I've spent forty-plus hours each week with our crew. I've watched as they put heart and soul into everything they did. Most often the tasks they did were just plain hard work, shoveling sand and gravel, carrying heavy lumber, troweling concrete, painting and a hundred other physical jobs. They laboured through heat and rain alike, never complaining, always encouraging each other and always doing their very best. At break times we often had to call them two or three times, and often heard the reply - "in a minute, after I finish this little thing". At the end of the day when it was time to go home I often heard the same argument and checking the time sheet later saw they didn't put in for the extra time they had worked. Our days were filled with laughter and good humor, much teasing and many practical jokes. Our time was also spent working hard.
Today was the last day the entire crew was together, with most heading back to their studies at university. Today was a day of celebration. A few days ago this day was dubbed 'BRANDO DAY'. Brando moved from the Phillipines about a year ago, established a new home here and started buiding a new future. He hasn't been able to visit with his daughter since leaving however and each of the crew decided they would work the day and put their time on his time sheet instead of their own for this special day. The money they earned this day would go to him to help him purchase a plane ticket for her to come to Canada. At lunch we enjoyed a potluck meal. Hailey even made us all T-shirts to mark the occasion. Brando (now an electrician) was our honored guest for his special day.
After lunch we paused to take a group photo... and all stood on buckets in Brando's honor.
After the official group shot things got a little silly of course... in honor of Brando who doesn't often bump his head on tall objects.
Today was a wonderful day - one in a summer full of wonderful days. Thank you to my awesome crew who did their huge part in building our very special dream house. I hope you have great memories the things you did and the friends you made this summer. I wish you the very best in your future. Thank you!
-grampa dan
