When I think of “labor”

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Happy Labor Day - quite possibly my favorite holiday of the year. My family has always taken a few days at the end of August or in early September to get together. For many years this took place at a small resort in northern Minnesota called the Cry of the Loon, but we’ve also gathered in the Wisconsin Dells, Okoboji, Iowa, and various resorts in Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. This year we rented an AirBNB near Itasca State Park here in Minnesota - sort of a return to our original holiday.

For those of us working in education, Labor Day has always felt like a beginning rather than an end. Or at least it has for me. As a classroom teacher it meant classes full of new faces, a chance to try new lessons, the possibility of successful sports and contests that we coached. As a technology director, a new year promised projects and challenges with the breeze of a fresh start pushing one forward.

When I hear the term labor, I still generally think of physical labor. I grew up on a farm. Shoveling manure, hefting bales of hay, walking the beans, driving tractors and grain trucks all required muscle strength. My jobs during college were also physically demanding - stacking sacks of seed corn, working as a hod carrier for a mason, delivering furniture, and washing in a commercial laundry.

Yet as a professional, I soon came to realize that jobs that require mental efforts can be as laborious as those where gloves are needed. In my first two years of teaching, I taught five high school classes with four different preps, coached speech and play contests, sponsored the school newspaper, and directed the class plays. And on weekends I worked at a gas station to make ends meet. I swore at the end of those two years that I wanted a job that did not require me to think - at all.

And I got my wish. During graduate school I worked the 3-11 shift in “central sterilizing” at the university hospital. The eight hour, five day a week job primarily consisted of standing at a table making “three gown packs” used during surgeries. A cloth was placed on the table and then in careful arrangement, three surgical gowns and some towels were placed on the cloth. Wrap and tape the package, label it with a wax crayon, and place it on an autoclave cart. Repeat and repeat and repeat for eight hours. No wonder many of us smoked a little Iowajuana on our breaks.

For the bulk of my career as a school librarian, technology director, writer, speaker and consultant, I found joy in my work. In most cases, the challenges were enough to be engaging but not so tough as to be frustrating. My work was one long sweet spot.

So I would encourage having a very broad view of what can be considered “labor.” Muscles, brain cells, and the human spirit can all be exercised until exhausted - painfully or happily. I need to remember to honor all workers and the jobs they perform. I hope you do too.

Be a good hiking and biking leader

I generally enjoy group hikes and bicycle rides. New places, good conversations, and longer durations. But some are definitely better than others, often times due to the skills of the event leader.

By following a few basic guidelines, you can be a well-regarded organizer and a good role model for those who may lead in the future. These are practices I try to keep in mind.

Provide an accurate description. Most hiking and biking clubs and Meetup groups give the organizer of the event the opportunity to describe the activity. How long is the bike ride? How fast is the hiking pace? What will the surfaces be like and will there be hills? Anything special that one needs to bring? Any other activity (bird watching, stopping for ice cream, etc.)? Anticipated length of activity.

Oh, and then do your best to conduct the activity as described!

Scope out the route. The best organizers hike the trail or ride the route shortly before the group event. No surprises then with closed paths, muddy trails, or large carnivorous plants from which one needs protection. Oh, and it significantly decreases the likelihood of the leader getting lost themselves.

Start on time. One of my major complaints about group activities is that there are often those participants who feel being ten minutes late qualifies for being on time. Here in Minnesota, especially in the winter, keeping people just standing around waiting in the cold is cruel. Being on time means not just being present, but being ready to go - tires filled, boots on, pack adjusted, bathroom visit completed. I make it clear that our event’s starting time is our starting time and that I do not wait for those coming late. Text me and I will let you know the route and perhaps you can catch up. 

Use a sweep. There will always be faster and slower participants in a group hike. There will be those who may wish to stop and take a photo or retie their shoes or just walk/ride slowly. For a group of any more than about half a dozen, a sweep is a good idea. The sweep’s job is to monitor the stragglers and make sure no one gets left behind. If the leader can see the sweep, they know everyone in the group is accounted for. Walkie talkies are a good to use if you have them.

Stop at junctions. Our family has a long standing hiking rule: You can go as fast as you want, but you must wait anytime there is a choice of paths or roads to follow. I like to share a map of the ride or hike I am leading, but stopping before others get lost is even more important. I am proud to say I have a participant survival rate of over 80% as a result.

Remember that people join group activities to socialize and learn new places to recreate. Most of the group activities in which I participate start with introductions - first name, length of time with the club, etc. A little icebreaker is usually a good idea - Where is your favorite place to bike? What are you looking forward to this fall? What is your favorite dessert? (Stay away from religion and politics.) I suggest a place to gather for lunch after the ride or hike if people would like to eat lunch together. 

In planning, I also try to select places that may not be terribly well-known. One of things I’ve liked best about the club and Meetup group activities is learning new bike trails and hiking paths myself. I live in a suburb of Minneapolis/St Paul so while I know parks and trails in the south metro area, I am always happy to try something new in the northern part of the metro (or out state)

Look for training. Good bike clubs offer, and may require, training to those new to leading rides (partly out of  legal responsibility.) Know the rules of the organization (helmets required, for example). Good club rules result in a safer experience for all.

Be a sport and lead a hike or ride. Repay the leadership others have shown you in the past. If you mess up, you will find participants quite forgiving. Do your good deed for the day.

Please don't complain about inflation if...

I looked at research by behavioral scientists and an array of personal finance experts. More often than not, they find, that feeling of financial insecurity is the result of lifestyle inflation. ... The more some folks make, the larger they live. Wants turn into needs. Luxuries become necessities. …. If you’re feeling you aren’t earning enough to feel financially secure, do a reality check. “Americans would feel rich if they made this amount of money: Lifestyle inflation may be keeping you from feeling financially secure.” Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, July 3, 2024

Please. If you:

• Drive a vehicle for which you paid more than $25,000 and gets less than 25 mpg
• Live in a house with a value of more than $300,000
• Drink wine that costs more than $10 a bottle
• Smoke cigarettes or pot
• Have a phone that cost more than $300
• Eat multiple meals out each week
• Buy new clothes before the old ones are worn out (or outgrown)
• Eat junk food
• Buy books instead of checking them out from a library
• Own a cabin or a timeshare
• Send your kids to a high priced private school or college
• Take out a loan or accumulate credit card debt to take a vacation
• Attend live concerts and/or sporting events
• Own a boat, RV, motorcycle, ATV, or ebike
• Drink coffee at Starbucks
• Subscribe to multiple streaming services

please do not let me hear you complain about inflation. Consider Singletary’s words above and ask yourself if you can’t afford your needs - or can afford your ever increasing wants.

Two things especially frustrate this grumpy old man. One is the amount of junk food that fills grocery store shelves. It’s expensive, bad for you, and addictive. If you don’t by the Doritos, you can probably afford that gallon of milk or fresh sweet potatos. The second is sharing the road with giant pickup trucks that seem to have no reason for being driven except to relieve the physical insecurity of the driver.

Yes, we all have our spending weaknesses. Yes, there are plenty of people who just squeak by from week to week or month to month. Yes, I am judgemental and lacking empathy.

Just don’t bitch about the price of gas when you are only getting 12 mpg.