Entertainment
8 April, 2021
Wayne's World: Professionally unsuccessful, but happy as!
Wayne's World - Looking at life through different eyes.
G’day Tropicairnsians,
Sitting with fingers on keyboard I am trying to think about what to write this week when suddenly getting childhood memories while listening to young adult life struggles on the telly in the background.
The subject is all about work availability for modern kids.
Now I seem to remember that when I was knee high to a grasshopper that if you wanted to work there was always a job, 8-years-old and first job delivering morning newspapers.
Next was selling arvo papers, peeling and cutting potatoes, washing car yard cars and motor bikes, mowing lawns and list goes on.
But my working career was pointed out to me when washing cars and bikes I met an old fella doing some oxy/acetylene welding repairs to a bike and over a period of several months he taught this numb nut how to weld.
I was soon extending forks on push bikes (that I salvaged from the tips) turning them into “choppers” and selling to other kids. The start-up was expensive but paid itself off.
Well guess who became a boilermaker/welder in later life which enabled me to travel to mines all over aussie making good coin, while having a trade life is great but back in my day safety was not really a big thing.
I gained skin conditions, damaged lungs, heaps of burns and deep cuts, bad back, heaps of metal in eyes and arc burns to eyes, industrial deafness, and a damaged heart from too many electric shocks which also had me in I.C.U twice.
Looking forward about what to do when I could no longer endure the trade was not easy, but this changed after an accident at home caused an incident which led to pacemaker being installed in myself which meant no more welding trade, well guess what with being handy with my hands I soon talked into starting a handyman business which then led to a position at the big green box which then led to writing columns.
Every morning I wake smiling and looking forward to getting up, and I am still doing all three jobs.
The point I am leading to is that having a trade or other qualifications are great. But a successful career is not necessary. No one should be forced to follow a career. You can be professionally “unsuccessful” and yet be happy and satisfied.
Wayne
