Honest Work & Without Reason

Mid-month Moment: The recent months of work and a conversation with a kid.

Two thoughts have been on my mind lately, which I’d like to share through 2 anecdotes. The first involves travel troubles while the second is about a kid teaching me a lesson.

“It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.”

I avoid buying travel tickets or making reservations through a third party site. Buy straight from the source. Your future self will thank you when you have to change or cancel your plans.

A friend recently made this mistake. And it cost him hours on the phone. He had a simple goal: upgrade his airline seats. But he got played back and forth between a third party travel agent and an airline agent. We’ve all experienced or heard the story.

“Oh sir, we can’t change anything from our end. We can only cancel your flight and re-book it with the new seats. To be safe, we suggest you contact the airline directly.”

“Yes sir. Unfortunately, we don’t have your information, and there is nothing we can do. Perhaps you can work with your travel agent to modify your flight?”

“Oh sir, I think you are mistaken. There is nothing we can do. Please try the airline again.”

It’s a cruel game these agents play. After a decent rally, my friend gave up. Nothing tangibly changed, except that he learned to never buy through a third party again.

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Some of my work days end like my friend’s experience — no sense of accomplishment, only frustration and disappointment. I spend all day going in circles only to learn all the things I shouldn’t do going forward. There is nothing to show for, and all I can say is “it ain’t much, but it’s honest work”.

Perhaps I’m making the meme more serious than originally intended. But it’s true. Sometimes there is no fruit to reap after a long day of labor. And it’s discouraging when people often recognize the results while downplaying the effort. The reality is we all have some of those days.

Instead of hating those days, I’m striving to be satisfied with knowing that I did the honest work — rather than looking for validation from others. The days with results and acknowledgement come; however, they won’t happen all the time.

Without Reason

A friend’s kid started attending school, and he loves it. I can assure you because he wouldn’t stop talking about how he likes school and particularly the swim classes he attends.

I asked him what he likes about swimming. He simply shrugged saying “I don’t know. I just like it!”

Being the adult I am, I asked “How often do you go swimming?” — as if the frequency of swimming makes it more or less enjoyable.

And again, without thinking too hard he said “I don’t know. I just go when my mom or dad takes me.” He seemed irritated with how I tried steering the conversation to the logistics of swim class rather than staying on the topic of swimming itself.

Aren’t kids great? They spare the details and caveats and get straight to the point. He likes swimming. Who cares about the logistics or reasons — swimming is fun. End of story.

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Sometimes I wonder if kids are smarter than adults. We gain wisdom and maturity as we grow up. But I feel we lose something in exchange. Innocence, imagination, simplicity — I’m not quite sure what to call it.

There’s something about this kid’s answer that made me think. The boy likes swimming. Does he need to list out the reasons why he enjoys swimming, as if there has to be a justifiable reason to do something? I wonder how often I look for reasons to justify an enjoyment or participation of an activity. Likewise, I wonder how much I curb my own enjoyments because it I filter them out or let others filter out my enjoyments.

How often do we stop ourselves before even trying? Who’s the one stopping us — ourselves or others?

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What I’m Reading:

Currently Reading: Free to Choose — Milton Friedman & Rose Friedman