The last thing anyone wants to do on a hot, summer day such as this (where there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the heat index is 105 degrees) is go out to a muddy field to remove tassels from corn. But today, there are brave teenage kids out in those fields, removing tassels from corn.
Do they do it for the love of detasseling? No. Do they do it because their parents made them? Maybe. Do they do it because it’s a great way to make money when jobs for teenagers are scarce? Most likely.
That’s why my middle daughter, who hates to sweat, is out there. A few days into her summer job that gets me up at 5 a.m., I asked her if she hated it yet. She replied, “actually it’s pretty fun.” This is the kid who loves to sit on her bed all weekend reading. Yesterday she told me she hadn’t read anything in 11 days. She has worked a 9 or 10 hour day for 12 days straight now. Honestly, I can’t believe it.
But, there are lessons to be learned during her first job.
Of the kids who signed up for detasseling, only about 50% are showing up for work on a daily basis. And of those kids, she’s noticed that not all of them are there to give the company they work for 100%; she often talks about groups of kids who mosey through the corn rows, are slow to make it to the crop or who are more interested in playing than doing their job.
I’ve talked to her a lot about how, as a business owner, it is hard to find quality employees who will do the job they were hired to do. And I’ve told her that she needs to remember that someone is not only paying her an hourly wage, but they also have to contribute to things like workers comp, social security and insurance. It’s not just the $8.50/hour employers pay. There are so many more obligations they have on top of that amount to comply with state and federal standards.
I want my daughter to know that if she applies for a job, accepts it and is getting paid to do that job, she needs to give that employer exactly what they are in need of until the job is finished or she gives them due notice that she has found another position.
I can’t tell you how proud I am of what she is doing on a day-to-day basis. This morning we were up at 4 a.m. so that the crew may be done before noon and the heat really sets in. But I’ve also learned that although my daughter is 13 and makes her own food and does her own laundry, she is capable of more than I give her credit for.
We often give kids a pass because they are kids. Their job is to go to school and be a kid. And I still wholeheartedly believe that, especially being a kid part. She’ll have a whole lifetime of long days at the office, raising kids or taking care of a house. That part will come. But so often I allow her to do and be less than she can be because she’s a kid.
All three of my children have these incredible minds, bodies and spirits, and I’ve sold them short when I take care of things they can do on their own. My kids will never realize their potential if I am constantly picking up the pieces for them.
That’s why when my daughter asked if I would go with her to talk to her boss, I said no. Tomorrow, she’ll have worked 13 days straight. So, when she asked if she could take Saturday off to play Star Wars Clue at the Mahomet Public Library with her dad and brother, I said yes. BUT, I told her she had to tell her boss that she needed a day off to spend time with her family.
She has told me that people just don’t show up to work without telling her boss that they won’t be there. I asked her how an employer could guarantee work will get done if people just don’t show up?
She said she didn’t know. So, I taught her that employees need days off. They can’t just work all the time, but it’s important for them to tell their boss so their boss can plan accordingly. She was supposed to tell her boss on Sunday that she would need Saturday off. But she was scared. So, Monday passed by and she hadn’t said anything.
She knows that he boss is one of my friends, so she asked if I could text him for her. I said no. She asked if I would go up to him with her while she told him, and I said no. My daughter needed an opportunity to ask for something in a safe environment without using me as a crutch.
On Tuesday she was still scared. Then on Wednesday, I told her that if she didn’t tell him, she’d be going to work instead of the event she wanted to go to.
I asked her, what was the worst thing that could happen? She said, “He could fire me.” I said, yes that could happen. But what was more likely to happen is that he would thank her for telling him she wouldn’t be there.
When I picked her up yesterday, I could hardly breathe because she smelled so badly, but I asked her if she told him. She said, “Yes.” I asked, “What did he say?” She said, “He thanked me for telling him.”
My daughter could be lounging around in an air conditioned house right now. This wouldn’t be our house because the air conditioning is semi-broken. But she could be inside. Instead, she is out in a muddy field in extreme heat learning lessons she’ll carry with her for a lifetime.
And I am learning how to be a better parent.
