The value and understanding of a lifetime of working hard

On a personal note, I want to respond to a note I received on Facebook. A listener chastised me on behalf of working people and told me to learn what it’s like to live in the real world. As if working hard was an experience I have not had.

Why Seattle’s new worker scheduling law is absurd

Part of becoming an adult is realizing that if you are not keeping yourself above water, you’re not an adult yet.

Working hard and the lessons learned

I’ve had many jobs and I’ve been grateful for all of them. Some of my experiences in the past involve throwing hay bales on a family farm when I was in junior high. I’ve been a telemarketer, I’ve been a construction worker, and I’ve been an overnight motel clerk at Sea-Tac. But I’ve also been a business owner and this is where a good work ethic has come in to play. And this is where I get upset with people who want their job to be their babysitter and want to be given what other people spent a lifetime earning.

When I started my first real business, where I had employees under me, I didn’t take a dime for the first year. And I was broke. But I had a vision. And I took an enormous risk.

And when the business slowly started to become a success I started to pay myself. What I had in my back pocket was ownership because I had taken risks. And I was helping people who worked for me buy giving them a paycheck that they earned.

I’m angry when I hear people demanding the sort of security that comes after a lifetime of work or years of sacrifice to gain that security. Young people need to understand what it’s like to sacrifice, to build something that returns value to them over a lifetime.