I am at Emy J’s right now (as is common) and just finished a 30 minute conversation with an individual that I haven’t seen in at least a year and a half that blew me away. His name is Travis and he was the college recruiter that connected Adam, Pam and my oldest son, to Northland college. I believe Adam would say that Travis was one of the main reasons he eventually went to Northland (Adam has since transferred to UW – Eau Claire because Adam changed his major and Northland did not offer that major). When we initially met with Travis, Adam and I both felt a connection with him. He was passionate about his school and helping young students to find the best educational match for them. His passion for Northland was infectious.
What was so impressive with this conversation I just had with him was that Travis saw me first and said “Hi Robert.” He remembered me even though we I had not seen him in quite some time and even then only met with him a few times. Yet he still remembered my and Adam’s names. He not only remembered our names but also remembered many specific details of our lives. He asked specific questions concerning how things were going with Adam and even remembered that I pastor a church. He remembered all this even though he meets tons of people all day long. Either he is stalking Adam and me or he has an excellent memory. 🙂 I was so impressed by his memory that I told him so. He responded by saying it wasn’t that difficult because he really loved this part of his job. He said connecting with students and parents was the part of the job that he got the most out of and it enabled him to make it through the parts of the job that he didn’t connect with as well. In my opinion you tend to do well in jobs that you love.
Travis’s love for his job reminds me of one of my favorite movie quotes ever. It comes from the movie “Charlie & the Chocolate Factory” (a movie that I don’t really care for other than this quote). Charlie discusses the idea of selling his golden ticket for money for the family. Grandpa George responds by saying:
There’s plenty of money out there. They print more every day. But this ticket— There are only five of them in the whole world, and that’s all there’s ever going to be. Only a dummy would give this up for something as common as money. Are you a dummy?
Sometimes you have to work at a job you hate just for survival. When you do that it is admirable and praiseworthy. You are doing what is necessary for the survival of your family. That is a sacrificial action and I can’t say enough about how much I respect such actions. On the other hand, when you don’t have to work at a job you hate for survival and you are doing something just for the money that is a different story. I’ve known people who worked jobs that continually tore them down just because they made a lot of money at that job. It was horrific to watch. They always print more money but finding a job you actually love, well that is rare. You’d be a dummy to give up a job you love for something as common as money. Are you dummy?
I am so glad that Pam & I love our jobs. I hope and pray for the same for our kids. I am pretty sure we haven’t raised dummies.