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We??™d struck it rich!
My brother, Dave, and I received an
allowance each week. Well, most weeks anyway. Ok, SOME
weeks. It was $.25 (notice the decimal). For a quarter, we
could see a movie and buy popcorn ??“ and have a nickel left
over.
We lived on a farm near Popejoy, Iowa
and went into town once a week to do the grocery shopping,
hang out with the other families, and sometimes see a movie
while Mom & Dad went to ???The Joynt??? to have a beer or 2 or
3, with their friends. Dad was doing very well, earning
almost $100 per week. Of course Mom did not have a job.
She was a ???stay-at-home mom??? before the phrase was invented.
One spring afternoon, Dads boss Arvid
came by the house to talk to Dad about some job that need to
be done. While he was there, he turned to Dave and me and
said, ???You boys want to earn some money???? Instantly, he had
our attention!
???Yeah???, we shouted enthusiastically.
???You ever walk beans before???? he asked.
We knew about walking dogs, but walking
beans? How do you walk beans? We thought he was teasing
us.
He explained. ???You walk between the
rows of soybeans and using a hoe or a machete, cut the corn,
cockleburs and other things that interfere with the growing
bean plants.???
That sounded simple enough. We knew
what a bean plant looked like, and we could certainly
identify corn, cockleburs and other weeds that should be
removed. So we both said ???Sure. How much do you pay????
Always an important question, we thought.
???$40 for the south bean field. It
should keep you busy for about a week.???
Wow! We would be rich.
???You??™ve hired yourself a couple of bean
walkers???, we said.
Arvid supplied us with the necessary
tools and suggested we take our time and take lots of water
with us to the field. We started the next morning at 7:00.
Dave would start between the first 2
rows, then there would be an empty space, and I would start
in between the next 2 rows. That way, we could each cover
two rows at a time and not get in each other??™s way. We left
water and snacks and things at the end of the row, and off
we went. Everything was fine at first. It was cool in the
early morning and we quickly began to learn how to yield the
machetes without taking out a dozen bean plants.
It was fun at first. We really enjoyed
the power we had while swinging those machetes. We played
warrior and hacked our enemies into oblivion.
And then it warmed up.
Noon came and we took a break to eat
lunch and drink some water. I suppose we rested for about 20
minutes and then went back to work. The sun was high and it
was hot. We took off our shirts the next time we were at
the beginning end of the rows, and drank more water. The
sun beat down and we hacked away, wiping sweat from our
eyes. We hadn??™t thought of sunburn.
We drank plenty of water and took a
couple of breaks, then called it a day around 4:00 PM. We
picked up our shirts, water bottles, lunch bags, etc and
headed for the house. We were very tired and very dirty.
Mom decided we needed baths.
That??™s when we learned about the
sunburn. Sun screen hadn??™t been invented yet back then, but
we wouldn??™t have been able to afford it anyway. When the
warm bath water hit the sunburn, we instantly knew how
lobsters felt. We were being cooked! At least we thought
so.
The next morning found us stiff, and
sore from the sunburn. But like young soldiers, we trooped
off to the bean field again after a good breakfast. This
time we were slathered with baby oil to protect against the
sun. Baby oil??? Yep, baby oil.
By the end of the day we had finished
about half the field. There was very little corn or
cocklebur in the finished part, and most of the beans were
still there.
This continued for two more days, and
at last we had completed the assignment. The beans were
???clean??? and mostly weed free.
On the morning of the 5th
day, Arvid picked us up with a tractor and we drove up &
down the rows so he could see what a good job we??™d done. We
hacked a few stalks of corn we had missed. Then, satisfied,
Arvid tractored us back to the house and paid us in cash.
Real hard cash. We couldn??™t wait for the Saturday trip in
to town.
Besides the $40, Dave and I learned
about responsibility and about honoring our word. Though
tired and hurting, we still went back to the field each day
until it was finished. It felt good to get paid, but more
importantly, if felt good to have completed the job. It
felt good to know we had ???stuck with it??? when the going got
tough. Though we didn??™t know it, we were developing a work
ethic that would stick with us forever.
There were other beans to be walked.
Dave and I walked them. For several summers, we walked bean
fields. We learned much and we earned much. We kept some
of the money we earned, but most of it was given to our
parents to help with the budget. That too was a learning
experience. We were part of the family, part of the team,
part of the earning power. And it felt good.
Do you know of a farmer who needs his
beans walked? We??™re available on weekends.
?© 2004 by Don Carroll
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May your day be blessed
Bob Johnston |
