Hello everyone.  Thank you for tuning into The Blue Collar Executive podcast.  I am your host Lewis Taulbee, Jr.  Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening.  Depending on when and where you're tuning into this episode.

Today I want to talk about earning your keep.  It seems like every generation has less of a work ethic, but a greater sense of entitlement.  Maybe I'm just getting older.  I remember my grandpa and my dad complaining about the laziness of the generations that follow them.  Now here I am.  I just turned 50 and doing the same.  It's more of an observation than a complaint.   I really think it's a legitimate concern.  I've been working since I was tall enough to see over the steering wheel of a tractor.  A lot of people don't believe me when I say that, but in our family it wasn't uncommon.  In fact, it was expected.  When many people think of farmers or blue collar families they picture a dad leaving at daybreak and going to the fields or a job, while mom tends to the kids, cooking, and housework.  At least that's how it’s portrayed in Hollywood.  That certainly wasn't the way it was in our family.  Well, I guess it's partly correct.  Dad did get up and go to work, and mom did tend to the kids and housework, but then my mom went to work.  She had a job in a factory too.  My brother and I had to do our chores.  I have a photo of me mowing a field on a tractor when I was four years old.  I had to stand on the gearbox and hold onto the steering wheel so I could see where I was going.  Of course, I thought I was having fun driving a tractor, but I was actually contributing to the family workload.  That was my dad's motto, everyone and everything had to earn their keep.  I think my childhood was typical.  Growing up my days consisted of playing in the backyard with all the neighborhood kids.  We'd go from one game to the next football, basketball, and baseball.  We'd play outside until well after dark, until mom said it was time to come inside.  During the school year, I got up every morning, did my chores before the bus came.  I'd feed and water the dogs and make sure they had clean straw in their house.  I would chop firewood and carry it to the house.  Whatever mom and dad needed me to do.  When I got home, I was free to play until dark.  During summer break, I always had a list of things to do every day before I went out to play.  It typically consisted of working in the garden, mowing grass, and cleaning the barns.  Most of my weekends were spent on my uncle's farm.  We would bale hay, work in the tobacco fields, cut a truck load of firewood, handle the cattle, mend a fence, repair barns, and fix equipment.  Whatever needed to be done.  Looking back, it seems like my childhood was a lot of work, but it wasn't at all.  I never remember feeling like my childhood was not enough play.  I was just taught from an early age to get up and do what needed to be done, then go out and play.  This was just normal routine for me and my family.  I assumed everyone did this.  I had no idea of the work ethic and lessons that were being instilled deep inside me.  Dad was a raccoon hunter.  He raised and trained hound dogs.  I never remember having less than three dogs at our house.  Sometimes we would have as many as 15, especially if one had a litter of pups.  They would come and go as dad would raise and train, then trade them often.  Dad was apparently very good at training the dogs because his hounds won many grand night champions and people would come from far around to buy his dogs.  I never grew too attached to any of them because I knew they'd either be traded or sold.  There was one dog named Rusty that I did become fond of.  When dad was at work I would break his golden rule and let Rusty out of the kennel.  The reason that was dad's rule is you have to know a hunting dog has an instinct and as soon as you open the kennel gate, they are going to take off for the woods and start hunting.  Not Rusty.  He enjoyed just hanging with me.  We'd play all day, share a sandwich, climb a tree.  Yes I said climb a tree.  Rusty was the only dog I've ever seen in my life that could climb a tree like a cat.  He could, he would scramble right up.  We had great days and I always made sure I got him locked back in his kennel before dad got home and even knew he was out.  One day though I overheard my dad on the telephone negotiating a deal where he was trading Rusty for a shotgun.  When he hung up the phone, I asked him if I could keep Rusty as a pet.  He said no, he had gotten a pretty good deal for a shotgun and explained that Rusty wasn't a very good hunting dog.  I didn't tell him I already knew that because he didn't head for the woods, he played with me all day.  I continued to beg with tear filled eyes, but dad explained that since Rusty wasn't a good hunting dog, he didn't have a lot of value and we couldn't afford to feed him.  Then dad simply looked at me and said, “son we all have to earn our keep”.  Well that certainly wasn't the answer I wanted to hear, but I knew it was the final answer.  It didn't mean a lot to me then, but it stuck with me through my whole life.  It's a valuable lesson that I apply every day in my career.  Today I see so many people that don't believe in the old adage of an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.  They seem to feel they're entitled to the paycheck for simply showing up to work.  I have hired people that think the job interview was the job because they'd give a great interview, but once I hired them, they thought they could take it easy.  At the risk of sounding like my dad or granddad, I believe it's getting worse with every generation.  It's not the young people's fault as much as the parents.  I heard my dad say many times, “I don't want you and your brother to work in a factory like your mother and I do”.  He wanted us to have a better life.  As my kids grew, I wanted them to have more play time and less work, but you see the pattern.  We all want our kids to have a happier and easier life.  Our intentions are good, but by giving them more are we instilling the sense of entitlement in them?  We talk about the unemployment rate in America and it's sad when a hardworking person loses their job.  I have been there myself, but I can tell you that most of the people that make up that unemployment percentage don't want to work.  I struggle to find employees across this country because most of the unemployed don't want to be employed.  They don't want to work but they want the paycheck.  Not everyone shares the same work ethic or even wants to work for that matter.  That's okay long as they don't expect a reward.  I don't care if you work or not.  I'd give my last penny to help someone long as I knew they were doing their best to help themselves.  It's morally wrong for someone to make a career out of welfare simply because it's the easy way.  This isn't a new problem that just started with my generation, my dad or my grandpa's generation.  No, this goes back every generation.  You can read about it in the Bible.  Jesus says to his disciples, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”.  Solomon writes in Proverbs in all toil, there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.  America is still the land of opportunity, but less and less people want to accept the opportunity because of the work involved.  I get up every morning and I think about what am I going to do today to earn my keep.  What am I going to do to earn my keep for God?  What am I going to do to earn my keep for my family?  What am I going to do today to earn my keep for my country?  Just think about how much better off we would be as a society and country if everyone strived every day to just simply earn their keep.  

That concludes this episode of The Blue Collar Executive.  I hope you found some value in it or at the very least entertaining.  I wish you all nothing but success.  Thank you so much for listening.