The Dandelion Field
The summer after I turned 10 I decided it was time to go to work. I was on the swim team so the first place I sought employment was at the pool where I was already spending a lot of time.
To this day, I haven’t decided whether the manager of the pool was rewarding me for wanting to work at an early age or taking advantage of my youthful exuberance for laugh at my expense. Whatever the motive, he gave me a job.
The pool was part of a larger park district complex on about seven acres. The undeveloped land consisted of a field overgrown with thousands, maybe tens of thousands of dandelions. My job was to weed the field by hand.
I think I could be forgiven for questioning the value of the task. I distinctly remember looking at the field and being overwhelmed. I wondered to start and how long it would take to finish, if ever.
Additionally, I had second thoughts about my desire to work, especially when I saw my friends having in the pool, but for a few days each week, between swim practice and baseball games, I would pick as many dandelions as I could.
Being that it was my first job and not skilled in the ways of horticulture, I am certain that I was neither efficient nor effective. I recently learned that one dandelion head produces about 15,000 spores, which explains why it often felt I was making no progress despite my considerable effort.
Over time, I developed a routine. I would designate an area for clearing and work on that area. If I had 1 hour of work to do that day, the area would be small. If I had three hours, the area would be bigger, but I would only work on that area for a specific amount of time. As days progressed, and dandelions would creep back into the cleared areas, I’d weed those areas first before starting a different part of the field. On I toiled through the summer.
All these years later, I don’t have a clear memory of what the field looked like when the summer was over and school started. I do remember, however, that I worked for 63 hours that summer and that the field had a lot less dandelions in it than it did when I started working on it.
I also remember exactly how much I made for my efforts…$63. That’s right, my pay was $1 an hour.
Recently, I was reminded of this when I scanned my landscape before mowing the lawn. Our yard had more yellow than green. Having flashbacks I attacked our lawn pulling dandelions one at a time just as I had years ago. It occurred to me that many of the lessons I learned then are still applicable in my work today.
The benefits of hard work aren’t often realized immediately, but it is important to work hard anyway. There were days when it was difficult for me to tell whether or not I had made progress in my battle against the pretty yellow weeds, but I persisted. The same could be said for starting a savings plan or beginning a fulfilling work career. You will not immediately achieve your goals during the first few days of either one of these endeavors, but you must press on because starting a savings plan and beginning a career are the most important steps you can take toward achieving your goals.
Just as new dandelions would rise up on a spot that I cleared the day before, sometimes one problem is solved and several more crop up. Life is like that and incorporating that into your planning; the more likely you will be to achieve your goals. You cannot allow plans to be derailed the first time an obstacle arises. Unanticipated challenges are normal.
Many problems can seem insurmountable if you only view them in their entirety. The road may appear too long and the journey too treacherous, but breaking problems into smaller parts makes them instantly more manageable. When I first looked at 7 acres of dandelions, the task seemed impossible. When I compartmentalized my job, working one area at a time, the task became much easier.
I’d like to say the money I earned that year was a lot of money even though it doesn’t seem like much now. The truth is $63 wasn’t much then either. I didn’t make enough to buy a new bike or anything else I really wanted at the time, but the experience was more valuable than anything I could have purchased. I experienced the satisfaction of earning my own money; a feeling I have strived to keep achieving ever since.
The value of a dollar earned is far greater than any monetary number assigned to it and it grows throughout your life. Earning my own money helped me establish independence and decision-making skills. Now that I have my own family, providing for them through my work is one of the most rewarding aspects of my life; a continual source of pride.
There are many days driving home from work I ask myself whether or not what I did that summer made a difference. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try or what your intentions are, you feel like you’re standing in the middle of a dandelion field with no hope of making a dent in the task at hand. I now realize the only way to answer that question is to relate it back to you. In other words, if I try to determine if my work mattered to someone else or something else, the answer is subject to variables and factors that I cannot control.
If the work I have done or am doing matters to me, the value gained from doing the work is priceless no matter your age or station in life.
Scott Arney
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Patrolmen’s Federal Credit Union
