So hay making happened. Because balers are expensive (like five digits kind of expensive), and the neighbor's industrial machines don't fit our gate, we put up our hay loose. This has some advantages - we can put it up a little wetter, and it's way less likely to spontaneously combust.
The disadvantage is the amount of time and effort we spend out there with pitch forks picking up hay, putting it in the trailer, packing it down, driving to the barn, picking it up AGAIN, throwing it in the barn, and packing it down (again). For this reason we always put out word amongst our friends, church, neighbors, customers, ANYBODY to try to get a little help. Many hands make light work and all that. Which is where I come to my point.
You would think that this is the DEFINITION of "unskilled" labor. You pick it up, you put it down where you're told. But somehow it doesn't work that way.
My youngest two kids are the best at packing the hay down in the wagon - because they've been doing this since they were 6-8 years old.
My second to oldest is the best at packing the hay down in the barn - because they've been doing it with my husband since they were 10.
My oldest kid is the best at driving the trailer from the field to the barn and back, with all the turn arounds involved - because that's how she learned how to drive in the first place.
And all of us are faster and more efficient at picking up loose hay and putting it down than the random teens from church we had over this year, because we've been doing it for YEARS. We pick up more at a time, spill less, and move more efficiently, because THIS IS NOT UNSKILLED LABOR.
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And the few tasks we've managed to mechanize? TRAINED PERSONELLE ONLY. |
And then we were all showed up by a nice guy that grew up near farmland in Africa, who showed us all up without even using a pitchfork, just his powerful, skilled arms. WAY TO GO GUY. You've probably been doing similar tasks since you were six and we appreciate the hell out of you.
We also appreciate the hell out of literally anybody who shows up. Because even inefficient, unskilled helpers make things go a little faster, and when you have to pick up a ton of hay twice, little bits still count.