“Call Mrs. Smith Tuesday.” “Pick up brakes for Kelly’s car.” “Check out job in Pea Ridge Wednesday.” “Bills due soon!” Loads and loads of paperwork, paint, tools, and receipts fill my dad’s Ford pickup. He’s a contractor, and a very good one I might add. Although dad’s truck looks like a tornado has ravaged through it about a dozen times, there is a neat stack of post it notes on a pad stuck to the dashboard. This is what he likes to call his “memory stack.” No one would ever guess his amount of professionalism based on his clunker of a truck. But more on the junk truck later.
“I like to write everything on those blue post its,” my dad told me as he was folding laundry the other day. “It helps me to remember everything. And before I go to bed every night, I plan the next day, every hour, so I know exactly what I’m doing. Just as long as I get everything done on time, I’m fine. As long as everything is done right, done well, and done on time, that’s all I care about.”
My interview with dad was continuously interrupted by him watching game clips on Sportscenter, but I can’t blame him. ESPN is much more entertaining. “What do you mean my truck’s dirty? Who cares?” he suddenly asked. “I have more important things to worry about than that thing! There is so much to be done and only 24 hours to do it in. If you don’t manage time, nothing will ever get finished. And cleaning the truck is not at the top of my list.”
He’s right. His work isn’t based on that truck. My dad is such a perfectionist when it comes to carpentry. I guess cleaning his truck isn’t his forte. I do like to joke about the truck a lot. The cracks in the seats are filled with cracker, chip, cookie, and doughnut crumbs, there are paint sticks, receipts, and empty coffee cups in the floor board, jackets that desperately need ironing are wadded behind the seat, half a statement book’s pages are ripped out and stuffed in various places, plus calculators, napkins, empty food bags, and tools are thrown everywhere. Like I said, you’d never guess how professional he is based on the Ford. “The truck gets me to my job and carries my tools. That’s all it needs to do.”
When I asked daddy about multi-tasking in his job, he said the hardest thing was to keep the job flowing. “With construction, there are all sorts of people doing all sorts of different things, and it all has to be organized. Plus, there are certain time frames that you just have to follow. That’s why it’s important to be able to manage time well.” Luckily there are certain perks that come with a construction job. If you have to paint outside and it rains, you get a free day to catch up on other things. This helps dad’s stress level drop. “I don’t try to dwell over any problems. If a problem arises, you deal with it as it arises. But if all else fails, golf really relieves my stress.”
I know my dad is a busy man. Not only does he work as a contractor, he also cooks dinner, folds the laundry, sweeps the floor, dusts the furniture, and he drives me and mom everywhere. Sure, he doesn’t stress over the same problems women do, but he does do enough to keep himself busy, and he does it in a very timely and professional fashion. The best example are those funny blue post it notes.
“Life would be so much easier if everyone took time to do something for them self, something special, whether sitting in front of the TV one evening, or even buying a candy bar,” my dad brilliantly explained. “Just something for you. Your attitude will be a whole lot better if you do.” I couldn’t agree more.
I’m so lucky I have my dad as a role model. George Washington Carver once said, “When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” I think my dad has done just that.