Marty was fifteen, when I wrote this.? It was an e-mail to our "old next-door neighbor" (who still lives there now, and Marty lives in the house in the story).? We had rented our older, smaller house, to a friend, Mike, who was in his 30s.? In the Society for Creative Anachronism, he had been my husband's squire, so there was a relationship and we rented him that house cheap, and often he paid it off in labor, repairs, or remodelling.? So Mo was his next-door-neighbor (Mike's) and had known Marty since he was three.
In the small workshop in back, Mike was making leather boots and leather pouches for medieval re-creationists, not just our club.? He did some fancy things for a tv commercial and for a re-enactment/documentary on The Mary Rose, a ship that had been recently discovered and raised... anyway.
Mike had hired three teens to work for him, doing long seams and less technical parts.? Two had quit and that left Marty working alone, without so much to learn.?
The story picks up there, and the main part I wanted to share, I will put in boldface.? It was all said jokingly, conversationally.??
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[From an e-mail to Mo Palmer October 29, 2005]
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Marty quit his job.? He told Mike on Thursday (10/27/05) that he wanted to finish the work that was there and then quit.? He said Mike did his "depressed thing," but otherwise was fine with it.? Earlier in the week Marty had talked to me about what two weeks' notice meant and how it would work with a four-day-a-week job, and I told him the tradition, but this isn't that formal a job.? He talked about how he might quit, and said he might tell Mike he'd stay until Mike found someone else.? I said don't do that!? He might never even look.???
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I also cautioned Marty not to say it was about money or hours, or Mike might offer him more.
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So he said he'd finish current orders, and Mike said that might be enough work to last until middle of next week, but Marty finished it Thursday and Friday.
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He wants to have a week off before looking for something else.? We're *right* by Raley's, Lowe's and a Twister's.? Toward Menaul there's a video game store that really wanted to hire Kirby after he quit at Active Imagination, but Kirby turned them down twice.? I'm pressing Marty to go there and get a job so he can get an employee discount on the new Playstation that's coming out.? I said "DO IT!? Do it right now!"
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He didn't seem eager.
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I said "You kids never do what I tell you to do."
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Marty:? "That's how we were raised."
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Me: "Well it's going to bite you in the butt someday."
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Marty-without-a-pause:? "That we were raised that way?"
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Oooohh...?? He won. <g>
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There was nothing wrong with the job, it's just that when Marty started there were other people to talk to and he was learning lots of new things, but it devolved into Marty working all alone and doing things he had done before.?
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I didn't share it at the time, for being sensitive information that involved others, but many years have passed.??
There's something in my willingness and calm about them NOT doing what I thought they should do that's the reason for bringing it.??
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There are still times, now, this week, that I think wistfully that I wish they would do some little thing differently, maybe more efficiently, but then I see them being responsible¡ªall in their 30s now¡ªand sweet to kids (those with kids, and Holly is a sweet Auntie when she's in range).
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Sandra
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