REMEMBERING WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO WORK FOR A LIVING

Someone recently responded to a comment I made that 'we all have stories of working____________' (fill in the blank) that we can draw from. At the time I agreed with that statement, but this past week that quick remark has really been digging at my conscience.

Years ago I remember watching a political campaign where both men said so many of the same things that I wondered how I could possibly discern the better choice. The problem wasn't what they were saying -- education, jobs, environment -- rather, it was that they were from supposedly different parties with very, very divergent ideas on administering those issues they brought forward.

What I realized watching those two men debate is that they both forgot where they came from, what it was like to work for a living. Most people in 'government' came from the private sector. They looked to the union workplace, good perqs and stable environment as a solid place to work. Electeds like myself are also offered modest benefits - in my case as a Commissioner I can legally be compensated to approximately $18k/yr in total, which depends on how many official meetings I attend and the cost of the Port's health care plan, last year I was under this amount.

So far, so good. Right? Well, what's been bugging me is listening to people who I know had a rough childhood, poor parents, working class upbringing and the like who don't seem to remember that experience at all. It's as if it happened to someone else.

How often have those of you reading this come into contact or heard an official from some agency talking as though the world is and always has been just a certain way.

Here's what I know:

50 million people in this country have no access to regular health care like you and I do.

The average unemployment for college graduates in this recession is under 5% while high school graduates hover just above 10% and non-high school graduates almost 14%.

91% of white kids finish high school but only 83% of black kids do. Only 64% of hispanic kids finish high school.

I know that my first job, at 11 years old, was hard work.

I know that before I was 13 I had broken every single child labor law in existence at the time.

I know that I had more money in my pocket every summer than any of my peers at school and I worked 7 years on a farm for $4 an hour.

I know that my first boss was cranky, angry and hard to work for but he taught me everything I needed to know to be a good employee and then a good leader.

I know that many of you have similar stories. I know that many of you know one of those kids who didn't finish high school.

I know that working class isn't a dirty word in my neighborhood and if you asked anyone in my own family they wouldn't really know that the world lives off their labor, it's just the life we have always lived.

People often tease me about my attire at Port functions. I do, in fact, have suits, twenty-odd dress shirts and about a dozen ties. I do at times wear them. But I also know that I'm not going to race home from work to shower and change just to put on a show -- I'm not a show pony and I won't ever be a show pony.

I am likely to show up at a function in work pants covered in dust, mud, stains and a sweat stained shirt because I work for a living. I love my work and I work hard when I'm on the job. I don't take offense at folks who tease me about my ragged hat or the tears in my shirts.

The fact is I listened to the stories my parents and grandparents told me. I remember going to a funeral for my cousin and seeing most of the crowd in logging clothes and romeos -- if ya gotta ask what romeos are then you've never worn them. I listened when my mom told me to always be myself....sometimes to uproarious effect at my expense!

The bottom line is an old, tired, cliche' -- "dance with the one that brung ya."

So if you read this and you believe that hard work is worth something, even if it's just a "Thank you" at the end of the day, then you are the person I'm working for at the Port.

If you like good beer, backyard firepits, beat up work trucks and making do with what's at hand, then I like you.

Our government and the leaders we put in place -- including me -- should never forget what it is like to work hard for a living.

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