Metal is a recyclable product and there are some folks, up
here where I live, that will take it off your hands for free because they can
earn money for it at the local recycling yard.
I bought the home I live in a little over 3 years ago and
each year I try to get more things moved over to Done… This year was finishing
up my kitchen and my annual refactoring of junk… The previous owner was a
collector of such… I was a naïve buyer and did not “see” the amount of junk
there was until I started changing the property to fit my design…
One of the things that both astounded and arose the anger in
me was the misuse of the wooded area on the property… dumping and hiding trash…
Last year I hauled two loads of it to the local dump, plus paid to dispose of
18 tires I found there… I have firm beliefs in natural habitats… if you go to
them – leave them as they were… do not leave anything behind… totally off-topic…
Anyhow, I found an advertisement from a fellow who does odd
jobs, and he happened to have an advertisement for removal of metal for free as
well… Scary as it is in this day and
age, I decided I would call and see what he could help me with…
We played “phone-tag” for a couple of days, but then we
finally set a date… he, and one of his helpers, came over to assess…
I asked a lot of questions, to get to understand something
of who I invited to my property, and to gain some personal insight… I was
impressed with what I found out. These
fellows held full-time, paying positions at a local factory and were doing this
for extra money to help support their families… since my father, who worked three
jobs at a time when I was young – in order to provide for his family - I have known none to do this… Trust me, there
was a lot of questions… cause “trust” is
not a given for me…
They agreed to take the metal, and when we were looking at
the “this-years-junk-removal” pile, he was hesitant to name a price. I already had a price in mind, so I said,
just say what you are thinking… He told me his price, mine was slightly higher,
so I told him what it was and said if there were any changes due to items in
pile (at the landfill) that I would fix the price accordingly… He never asked
for more… he passed the test… He could have thought I knew little of the
landfill and tried to get more money out of me – especially because most
females have limited knowledge of the whole thing – but he did not.
When they came to take the recyclable metal – which was
old/outdated/unused items: an ancient GM
Frigidaire, an old wood burning furnace, and a freezer – up came one issue with
one item… The freezer would not fit through the back door of the room that it
was in. A ½ inch more clearance was
needed in order for it to be removed…
He told me, “I can’t remove the doorframe to get this
out. I am not comfortable with doing
that.” The word “can’t” - due largely in part to an Elementary School
teacher I had (Mrs. Alderman), does not fit in my thoughts… I recall, to this
day, her reprimand of another student who said this… she replied, “Can’t means
won’t”. Because of her words, there
have been a lot of situations in my life where I have been told I “can’t” do
something, and I have proved otherwise… I have been forced to learn new things
and grow through each of these situations… but I was willing to do so, because
her words were/are a challenge to me…
I told the young man to go start on the other things and
that I would figure it out…
And I did… it took a little time to figure out the tools I
would need and the proper plan of attack… but the darn thing is gone and no
damage was done…
When I offered them money at the end of removal, the young
man in charge argued against it – but I had already determined it was fair, and
it is hard to argue with a determined/convinced person..
At the end of the day I learned some things, and I think
they did too… And I attribute that to having the “Can Do” attitude on both of
our parts…
They worked physically hard for their part… Mine was mostly
mental… but we all wanted the job Done… and it was indeed Done J
While
this may be an off-topic way of showing what a team effort does, let me be
emphatic on the team effort part… I
work with a team where I share some core values: “ I said I will get this Done
by such-and-such date” means I “committed” to it… I work with some folks who
give up time they do not account for just to "Get R Done"... I
work with a team that pulls out all stops to do what they said they would do… I
am proud of us… not because we always succeed, but because of the attitude
behind it… the Can Do Attitude...
You do not necessarily have to have the proper tools, the
correct processes, the right timing, etc. to accomplish things… you do not have
to necessarily always succeed… but you
do indeed need the proper attitude… Have you checked yours lately?