be sure to play as hard as they work! And both we did for 1 day during harvest.
Our family farming arrangement is 2 brothers and the oldest brothers oldest son. I'm married to that son. Each farmer has his own farm ground that he owns or rents and what they all share is labor and equipment. It's harvest time. It's what we work for all year and then live off of the rest of the year. It's a big deal. It doesn't wait for you to be ready. You gotta be ready when harvest is ready. Yesterday the 2 brothers had to be away from harvest to take care of their dad. This was a colossal moment in the family farming operation. The next younger generation of farmers had to prove they could hold down the fort for a day. That'd be my hubby and I, my brother-in-law and a cousin that was generous enough to help us out for the day. 2 combine operators (with some experience) and 2 truck drivers (that are normal truck drivers) that had to learn to run the tractor and grain cart really quick-like!
We were excited to be the bosses for a day. To finally have a chance to say with actions "hey we're not little kids anymore - we can do this and you need to see we can do this." In the end, Dad and Uncle about went nuts being away from the harvest field for a day - and no sooner did they get back to the farm did they kick the younger generation back out of the combines before the day was complete. I wish they would have let our generation finish the day and show them that we could get the job done without tearing anything up or having a catastrophe. We did a fine job working together making decisions in a timely efficient manner and getting things done. Ultimately their wheat was cut just as much and just as fast as it would have been if they had been there themselves.
I don't really know how the older generation feels about how things were handled while they were away. I hope they can see that it wasn't as bad as they feared and that maybe they should value our opinions and ways of doing things a little more. We've sure put in our time learning to do things their way. No matter what they think, we know in our hearts we did them right and could and would do it again anytime it's needed. Even when it is a thankless job.
And who cares if a couple empty beer cans fell out of the back of the truck at the elevator, right?!!! We were safe and we didn't waste time goofing off either. My point is - sometimes, there's room for a little gray. It doesn't have to always be black or white. You can work hard and still play a little too.
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