The pecking order...

When it comes to farming in a small community, there is a pecking order. The sooner you learn that - the better off you'll be.

This hierarchy is something that is instilled in every young farm worker, well it used to be, now it is not so evident. Farm duties are very cyclical. When I was young the grandpa's or grandma's drove grain trucks to town - and the dad's would run the heavy machinery. This is how it worked. Kids my age started slowly taking over the duties of grandma's and grandpa's as they moved back down the chain toward retirement, and the cycle would continue. You had to work your way up to the comfort of air conditioned or heated cabs. Once you paid those dues then you could move into the most comfortable position - supervising from the truck parked in the driveway.

Work ethic is what most of us had, kids today don't necessarily have it. They have this idea that they should all of a sudden be able to do the comfortable jobs with little appreciation for the grunt work.

I started working as soon as I could (or at least pretended to). My first load of grain taken to town was the summer before eighth grade - I was 13. Granted, my first summer warranted an adult rider - mostly grandma - because I didn't exactly have a license yet. When I was 14 though, I was on my own and most of the time had my 12 year old sister in the seat next to me. That's a lot of damn responsibility. Not only are you hauling your livelihood to town, but I had another life in my hands. Oh, and did I mention I had to also keep up with two machines - it was a stressful two weeks that taught me how to multitask.

When I got to the elevator I typically had the 'old timers' to battle with. I use battle loosely because these guys were real good guys - some were grandpa's of my friends. The thing was I had to learn. I had to figure out where my place was. Being a 14 year old girl, put me pretty far down on the list. I seemed to always be the one that got moved out of position or bumped in front of if somebody was in a hurry. I dealt with it, I took my lumps because that's just the way it was.

As fall harvest starts it begins my fifteenth year of working. I've learned my place on the pecking order. It's a rite of passage. I have the confidence to say, I know what I'm doing when it comes to this job. I don't see to many kids that were my age driving stuff to town anymore. That's kind of sad really, that's where I learned. Of course I bitched and complained - all my friends were sleeping till noon and going to the pool for hours - who wouldn't be bitter about that?

Looking back on it though - best thing ever. I wouldn't have learned that same work ethic and responsibility laying in bed or next to the pool chatting with friends.

Oh, and I wouldn't have near the mental Rolodex of crazy writing material.