cruits to help me to get the job done. But little did I know, sitting behind a desk has its own set of problems. Namely, supervising a group of people carries with it the pressures to not only get the job done but also have it done on time. Whereas the hourly worker may or may not feel the pressure to get the job done - certainly not in a timely manner.

I remember that day very well and the recruits could have cared less if the job was done or not. Therefore my first job at managing people didn't go so well, and if the chor

I once coined a phrase or saying that goes something like this: Every engineer should get his or her start in Arkansas as I did, cutting chicken necks. In that manner your peers will always marvel at how far you've come - or understand why you achieved so little. Dad once told me he was working on one of his old cars and had the car jacked up on blocks in the backyard. I suppose the car was there so it would be in the shade late in the day after Dad came home from work. But the times I remember, it was dark and Dad had an extension cord with a trouble light to light the area where he was working. But, in either case, he said I was there with him, watching him work.

I don't remember the particular incident and for that reason I may have been younger than the five or six years Dad mentioned. But he went on to say, when he needed a tool or a part and turned around to ask me to get it for him, he said I would always have the very part he needed in my outstretched hand. He said he could be doing anything and I always seemed to know what he needed, even before he asked me.

But there was another time, some years later, when Dad said he was trying to show me something and I wasn't so attentive. When I didn't appear interested, Dad said, "Ben, how are you ever going to get a job and make a living, if you don't pay attention to what I am trying to show you?"

I remember that day. I was on vacation from the Baptist Home, visiting with Dad for the summer and would have been about fifteen years old at the time.

He said I just stared at him and said, "Dad, I am not going to be working, I am going to be sitting behind a desk and have others doing the work for me!"

I don't remember Dad's response, other than seeing a disappointed puzzled look on his face. But I soon leaned that supervising people was not that easy.

My first experience came a few years later while waiting my turn for a navy school in San Francisco. I was just out of boot camp, stationed at my second duty station in Lemore, California.

There I was told to clean up the barracks and was given several raw recruits to help me to get the job done. But little did I know, sitting behind a desk has its own set of problems. Namely, supervising a group of people carries with it the pressures to not only get the job done but also have it done on time. Whereas the hourly worker may or may not feel the pressure to get the job done - certainly not in a timely manner.

I remember that day very well and the recruits could have cared less if the job was done or not. Therefore my first job at managing people didn't go so well, and if the chore

n extension cord with a trouble light to light the area where he was working. But, in either case, he said I was there with him, watching him work.

I don't remember the particular incident and for that reason I may have been younger than the five or six years Dad mentioned. But he went on to say, when he needed a tool or a part and turned around to ask me to get it for him, he said I would always have the very part he needed in my outstretched hand. He said he could be doing anything and I always seemed to know what he needed, even before he asked me.

But there was another time, some years later, when Dad said he was trying to show me something and I wasn't so attentive. When I didn't appear interested, Dad said, "Ben, how are you ever going to get a job and make a living, if you don't pay attention to what I am trying to show you?"

I remember that day. I was on vacation from the Baptist Home, visiting with Dad for the summer and would have been about fifteen years old at the time.

He said I just stared at him and said, "Dad, I am not going to be working, I am going to be sitting behind a desk and have others doing the work for me!"

I don't remember Dad's response, other than seeing a disappointed puzzled look on his face. But I soon leaned that supervising people was not that easy.

My first experience came a few years later while waiting my turn for a navy school in San Francisco. I was just out of boot camp, stationed at my second duty station in Lemore, California.

There I was told to clean up the barracks and was given several raw recruits to help me to get the job done. But little did I know, sitting behind a desk has its own set of problems. Namely, supervising a group of people carries with it the pressures to not only get the job done but also have it done on time. Whereas the hourly worker may or may not feel the pressure to get the job done - certainly not in a timely manner.

I remember that day very well and the recruits could have cared less if the job was done or not. Therefore my first job at managing people didn't go so well, and if the chor

ed, even before he asked me.

But there was another time, some years later, when Dad said he was trying to show me something and I wasn't so attentive. When I didn't appear interested, Dad said, "Ben, how are you ever going to get a job and make a living, if you don't pay attention to what I am trying to show you?"

I remember that day. I was on vacation from the Baptist Home, visiting with Dad for the summer and would have been about fifteen years old at the time.

He said I just stared at him and said, "Dad, I am not going to be working, I am going to be sitting behind a desk and have others doing the work for me!"

I don't remember Dad's response, other than seeing a disappointed puzzled look on his face. But I soon leaned that supervising people was not that easy.

My first experience came a few years later while waiting my turn for a navy school in San Francisco. I was just out of boot camp, stationed at my second duty station in Lemore, California.

There I was told to clean up the barracks and was given several raw recruits to help me to get the job done. But little did I know, sitting behind a desk has its own set of problems. Namely, supervising a group of people carries with it the pressures to not only get the job done but also have it done on time. Whereas the hourly worker may or may not feel the pressure to get the job done - certainly not in a timely manner.

I remember that day very well and the recruits could have cared less if the job was done or not. Therefore my first job at managing people didn't go so well, and if the chor

not going to be working, I am going to be sitting behind a desk and have others doing the work for me!"

I don't remember Dad's response, other than seeing a disappointed puzzled look on his face. But I soon leaned that supervising people was not that easy.

My first experience came a few years later while waiting my turn for a navy school in San Francisco. I was just out of boot camp, stationed at my second duty station in Lemore, California.

There I was told to clean up the barracks and was given several raw recruits to help me to get the job done. But little did I know, sitting behind a desk has its own set of problems. Namely, supervising a group of people carries with it the pressures to not only get the job done but also have it done on time. Whereas the hourly worker may or may not feel the pressure to get the job done - certainly not in a timely manner.

I remember that day very well and the recruits could have cared less if the job was done or not. Therefore my first job at managing people didn't go so well, and if the chor

cruits to help me to get the job done. But little did I know, sitting behind a desk has its own set of problems. Namely, supervising a group of people carries with it the pressures to not only get the job done but also have it done on time. Whereas the hourly worker may or may not feel the pressure to get the job done - certainly not in a timely manner.

I remember that day very well and the recruits could have cared less if the job was done or not. Therefore my first job at managing people didn't go so well, and if the chore was accomplished at all, I am sure it wasn't easy.

I may have done most of the work myself. But I didn't let that stop me and entered the University of Tulsa in 1973 and obtained a degree in Electrical Engineering and spent the remainder of my working days, managing people at the Armco Steel plant in Sand Springs, Oklahoma then later at the Lone Star, Industries cement plant in Pryor, Oklahoma.

Over the years I have observed a lot of people at work: laborers shoveling dirt, electricians pulling wire, also welders, maintenance people and equipment operators. Often times I would place my dad in many of those jobs and pat myself on the back for obtaining a degree and not having to work like my dad and others had before him.

But there were other times - long days and nights - when my job was especially trying, times when I would wonder what it would be like to be on the other side.

I remember how the CEO at Labarge explained it, not that long after I began working there. He said. "Now Ben, when you get home, go ahead and get your supper over with and don't bother your wife. Let her get the table cleared off...then you can go in there and get your work done."

Sometime later I was thinking about my dad and how hard he must have worked all his life and sat down and wrote the follow poem. In the verses I attempted to analyze the two oppositely aligned fields of endeavor - the manual laborer or craftsmen and the manager sitting behind the desk - from the point of view of the working individual, a person in the trenches. Here's the poem, A Simple Man.

Today, I passed a man at work A ditch he was a digging His brow was wet, his jaw was set The sides he were a rigging I asked him if he minded that I passed his way ad-libbing He glanced up from a sturdy face Said sir, you must be kidding I see you are a man of worth With fine silk hat and leather I am just a poorly carpenter Why no! I am just a piddling

We had few words, this man and I And later turned to go I found a busy bus to town And scrambled in the flow I hurried to a window seat And saw him pause to