View From the Backside

VIEW FROM THE BACKSIDE

by Barry Denton

Help Wanted

Pretty simple right? How could a “help wanted” ad ever be so complicated? This is a brand-new world that we live in. Do not ever expect anything to be like it used to be.

As the story goes, we needed some help here at the ranch. Most of our help has always been good, hard-working people that enjoy living here in God’s country along with the ranch work. The days can be long, but normally they are good days. Most of our hands average staying about five years at a crack.

As a matter of fact, the last girl we had left to get married, but since then, it has been a comedy of applicants and workers. The Joe Biden welfare checks for all plan during COVID hasn’t been good for employers wanting to hire. I guess it’s the downside of people not starving or having to eat macaroni for three meals a day. All of which I have done. I realize that I’m not alone as most of my friends with small businesses are having the same hiring problem. In the past this has never been a problem and we normally had a waiting list.

I had one young single guy apply, so I checked out his references and all seemed good. My first clue was his saddle thrown

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in the back of his pickup which looked like it had been run over by 12 pickups on the freeway and it was covered with bird crap.

Now I’ve seen lots of cowboys with saddles thrown in the back of a pickup. Their saddles might be worn from work, but you can tell they are kept in good usable shape. The day of arrival came, and he showed up with a girlfriend, a pack of dogs, and the likelihood of other relatives arriving soon.

I thought I was just getting the single guy. Needless to say, he went on down the road at my request.

The next one I had that sounded promising was losing his five-year job at an outfit similar to ours because the place had sold and they were going out of business. He described his duties there, and they sounded similar to what he would do here.

As I continued to talk with him and told him that we were 20 miles from town, he asked if he would need a vehicle if he lived here. I was perplexed and asked how he thought he would get to town without one? Then I asked how old he was and he informed me that he was 45. I wanted to know why he didn’t own a vehicle at his age. He explained that he had lost his license with a DUI marijuana charge a couple of years ago. Why would anyone want to give any responsibility to a doper? He did not even have the smarts not to tell me that. I would have found out during a background check, but still.

Last, but not least was the applicant that asked if I had room for 13 horses, he wanted to bring with him. I let him know that 13 was more horses than I would hire him for. Why would someone seeking a job ask you to take care of their horses?

Weren’t you always taught to put your best self forward when going on a job interview? I thought everyone knew to wash their face and comb their hair. I was raised during a time when jobs were precious and you were lucky to have one, especially a good one. Perhaps jobs are losing their value? ▫