Make Fun Of Life! - Work

Welcome To Work

1/1/2026

Picture of a confused looking man wearing a hardhat, with a long extension cord loosely wrapped several times around his neck, holding the ends of a hose for a shop-vac with its open ends covering each of his ears, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

If this is your first day at your new job . . . well, just hang in there, and probably by tomorrow afternoon you will have it all figured out . . .

You have arrived on a website on which you will find humor, inspiration, and learning in short stories, concise quotations, perky poems, audacious audio, melodious music, and pretty-near-perfect pictures. Just travel down this page, skipping the ridiculous articles, until you come to the articles that appeal to you. When you have a moment, be sure to visit the more than 70 other pages on the website, such as the Holidays Pages and the Life Pages, which can be explored by clicking or tapping on the drop-down menu near the top of this page, or further down this page on the colorful pictures in the right-hand column.

We are MFOL! . . . welcome to a world of work . . .

Employment And Work

9/9/2025

Picture of an abstract multicolored background, and the words, Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Employment And Work Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

“When you like your work, every day is a holiday.” -Frank Tyger (1929 - 2011)

“Doctor Lillian Gilbreth, professor of management at Purdue University, studied women in a dress factory. Some of them were limp with fatigue; some bright-eyed and wide awake. Yet all the women had been working the same number of hours. Doctor Gilbreth found that most of the wide-awake ones had plans for the evening - a party or a date - and were anticipating a good time. The tired ones were those who had nothing to look forward to.” -Amy Selwyn: as quoted in “Coronet” magazine
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Hopes And Dreams Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” -Pearl S. Buck (Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (1892 - 1973))

Overheard: At the end of the work day, we tell all of our employees, “You’re fired. Come back tomorrow morning, and we’ll re-hire you.”
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Stress And Anxiety Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Overheard: I like my job so much that I actually pay my employer for the privilege of working there.

Let us realize that:
the privilege to work is a gift,
the power to work is a blessing,
the love of work is success!
-David O. McKay (David Oman McKay (1873 - 1970))
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read “Fun and Learning about Poetry” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.

“I tell you, sir, the only safeguard of order and discipline in the modern world is a standardized worker with interchangeable parts. That would solve the entire problem of management.” -Jean Giraudoux (Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (1882 - 1944))

Boss: The person who is early when you are late and late when you are early.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Daffynitions And Definitions Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun.” -Colleen C. Barrett (born 1944)

“Every job has drudgery, whether it is in the home, in the professional school, or in the office. The first secret of happiness is the recognition of this fundamental fact.” -M. C. McIntosh
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read How To Be Happy Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“It doesn’t matter whose payroll you are on, you are working for yourself.” -Author Unknown

Love - Laugh - Learn - Liv - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net

One manager let employees know how valuable they are with the following memo:

You Arx A Kxy Pxrson

Xvxn though my typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works vxry wxll - xxcxpt for onx kxy. You would think that with all thx othxer kxys functioning propxrly, onx kxy not working would hardly bx noticxd; but just onx kxy out of whack sxxms to ruin thx wholx xffort.

You may say to yoursxlf - Wxll, I’m only onx pxrson. No onx will noticx if I don’t do my bxst. But it doxs makx a diffxrxncx, bxcausx an xffxctivx organization nxxds activx participation by xvxry onx to thx bxst of his or hxr ability.

So, thx nxxt timx you think you arx not important, rxmxmbxr my old typxwritxr. You arx a kxy pxrson.

By Thx Boss

Love - Laugh - Learn - Liv - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net

“No thoroughly occupied man was ever yet very miserable.” -Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802 - 1838): “Romance and Reality” (1831), Volume II, page 108

“The highest reward from your working is not what you get for it but what you become by it.” -Sydney J. Harris (Sydney Justin Harris (1917 - 1986))
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Self-Improvement And Self-Help Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Work banishes those three great evils: boredom, vice, and poverty.” -Voltaire (pseudonym of François-Marie Arouet (1694 - 1778)): “Candide, ou l’Optimisme” (1759), Chapter 30, ‘Conclusion’

The following was found in an employee handbook: “Be thankful for your problems, because if they were less difficult, someone with less ability and lower pay would have your job.”
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Problems And Solutions Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

The Fable Of The Crow And The Rabbit

A crow was sitting in a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?” The crow answered: “Sure, why not.” So, the rabbit sat on the ground under the tree, and took his leisure. Suddenly, a fox appeared, pounced on the rabbit, and ate it. The moral of the story is, to be able to lounge around and do nothing all day, you must be sitting very, very high up.

By Author Unknown

Picture of a road sign reading, Work Hard And Be Nice To People, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

On the morning of the last day of school, Johnny’s mother went into his bedroom and hollered, “Wake up and get ready for school!” Johnny pulled the sheets up over his face and muttered, “Give me one good reason why I should go to school today.” His mother answered, “Well, for starters, you are the school principal.”

A guy showed up late for work. The boss yelled, “You should’ve been here at 8:30!” The guy replied, “Why? What happened at 8:30?”

“There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.” -William Bennett (William John Bennett (born 1943))
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Attitudes And Expectations Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“I have to take my paycheck to the bank. It’s too little to go by itself.” -Author Unknown

Workplace Rules

1. The boss is always right.
2. When the boss is wrong, refer to Rule 1.

By Author Unknown

Overheard: I was thinking that with a few more deductions, my take-home pay wouldn’t be enough to get me there. Then, it finally happened - the deductions and withholdings have now exceeded my earnings, and last week, the company didn’t send me a pay check, they sent me a bill!

“Now, before I agree to take this job,” the young applicant said, “I have one question. Are the hours long?” “Well,” the manager said, “we try our best to keep them limited to sixty minutes.”
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Time Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Don’t let your superiors know that you are better than they are.” -Arthur Bloch (born 1948)

“It is the first of all problems for a man to find out what kind of work he is to do in this universe.” -Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881): address at Edinburgh (1866)

“Variety may be the spice of life, but monotony provides the groceries.” -Author Unknown

“A human being must have occupation, if he or she is not to become a nuisance to the world.” -Dorothy L. Sayers (Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893 - 1957)): “Are Women Human?” (1938); type of work: address given to a women’s society
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Idleness And Industriousness Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

The boss joined a group of workers in a meeting and told some jokes he’d heard recently. Everybody laughed loudly. Everybody, that is, except Bonnie. When the boss noticed that he was getting no reaction from Bonnie, he said, “What’s the matter, Bonnie? No sense of humor?” “My sense of humor is fine,” she said. “But I don’t have to laugh. I’m starting a job with another company tomorrow.”

“Work is the grand cure for all maladies and miseries that ever beset mankind - honest work, which you intend getting done.” -Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)

“Business clothes are naturally attracted to staining liquids. This attraction is strongest just before important meetings.” -Scott Adams (Scott Raymond Adams (born 1957))
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Attire And Accessories Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“A day’s work is a day’s work, neither more nor less, and the man who does it needs a day’s sustenance, a night’s repose, and due leisure, whether he be painter or ploughman.” -George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950): “An Unsocial Socialist” (1887), Chapter V

“What we do for a living does not matter as much as how we do it.” -Orison S. Marden (Orison Swett Marden (1848 - 1924))

Employee Breakroom Notice: Your Mother Does Not Work Here, So You Will Have To Clean Up Your Own Messes.

Employee: Sir, I’ve been with you for twenty-seven years, and I’ve never before asked for a raise.
Boss: That’s why you’ve been with me for twenty-seven years.

“Give sail to ability.” -Author Unknown: Japanese proverb
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Ships And Sailors Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

A man said to his wife, “I don’t want to go to work today. It’s a jungle out there.” She said, “Don’t worry, I put a banana in your lunchbox.”

A young man hired by a supermarket reported for his first day of work. The manager greeted him with a warm handshake and a smile, gave him a broom, and said, “Your first job will be to sweep out the store.” “But I’m a college graduate,” the young man replied indignantly. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that,” said the manager. “Here, give me the broom - I’ll show you how.”

Personnel Director, speaking to new trainee: “. . . or, if you prefer, you can elect to skip coffee breaks entirely, and retire three years sooner.”

The first United States Minimum Wage Law was instituted in 1938. The minimum wage was set at 25 cents per hour.

So, you are thinking of becoming a comedian, musician, artist, song writer, actor, inventor, poet . . . these are interesting ‘sidelines,’ but as they say, “Don’t quit your day job,” because you will need a means to support yourself while you pursue your creative ideas, and that means having a ‘real job’ with a real income that pays the rent and puts food on the table during the years it will take for you to develop a talent and years it will take for you to be discovered. Yes, you should definitely pursue your dreams - while continuing to work at the job that provides you with an income.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Wisdom And Advice Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” -Jim Rohn (Emanuel James ‘Jim’ Rohn (1930 - 2009))

Desk: A waste-paper basket with drawers.

“We spend most of our lives working. So why do so few people have a good time doing it?” -Richard Branson (Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 1950)), as quoted in the “New York Times” (18 February 1993) newspaper
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Questions And Queries Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Don’t bother to boast of your work to others; good work speaks for itself.” -Author Unknown

“If you work for a man, in heaven’s name work for him! If he pays you wages that supply you your bread and butter, work for him - speak well of him, think well of him, stand by him and stand by the institution he represents.” -Elbert Hubbard (Elbert Green Hubbard (1856 - 1915)): as quoted in Elbert Hubbard II (1882 - 1970), editor: “Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard” (1928), pages 59 and 60, ‘Get Out or Get in Line’

Picture of a happy smiling monkey sitting in a chair and working at a typewriter, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

“If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.” -James Goldsmith (1933 - 1997)

“. . . a fair day’s wages for a fair day’s work.” -Author Unknown: as quoted by Alpheus Cary in a speech (7 October 1824) at Faneuil Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

“I have to take my paycheck to the bank. It’s too little to go by itself.” -Bob Thaves: “Frank and Ernest” (comic strip)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Money Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Worker’s Prayer

Now I get me up to work,
     I pray, the Lord, I may not shirk.
If I should die before tonight,
     I pray, the Lord, my work’s all right.

By Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Prayers And Spiritual Affirmations Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Good salesmen and good repairmen will never go hungry.” -Robert E. Schenk

“Keep doing some kind of work, that the devil may always find you employed.” [translation to English]
“Facito aliquid operis, ut semper te diabolus inveniat occupatum.” [original Latin]
-Jerome of Stridon (also known simply as Jerome or by his full name Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus (about C.E. 342 to 347 - C.E. 420))

“Making a living is best undertaken as a part of the more important business of making a life.” -Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Life And Living Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Doing a job right the first time gets the job done.” -Author Unknown

“It is necessary to work, if not from inclination, at least from despair. As it turns out, work is less boring than amusing oneself.” [translation to English]
“Il faut travailler, sinon par goût, au moins par désespoir, puisque, tout bien vérifié, travailler est moins ennuyeux que s’amuser.” [original French]
-Charles Baudelaire (Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821 - 1867)): “Mon coeur mis à nu” (1864)

“Keep your eye on the ball, your shoulder to the wheel, and your ear to the ground - now try to work in that position.” -Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Anatomy And Physiology Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“A ‘people churner’ is a bad employee who causes a company to lose all of its good employees. Some companies have a gang, or a group of people churners, that work together to cause good employees to flee the company to find work elsewhere. What eventually happens to a company that loses all of its good employees?” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)

“The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.” -James Baldwin (1924 - 1987)

Jack

All work and no play
     makes Jack a dull boy;
All play and no work
     makes Jack a mere toy.

By Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Poetic Epigrams Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.” -Peter Drucker (Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909 - 2005))

“Work is more fun than fun.” -Noël Coward (1899 - 1973)

Boss to new employee: Amazing - you’ve been with us only two days and already you’re a month behind.

“Labor, if it were not necessary for existence, would be indispensable for the happiness of man.” -Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

“Work offers us the opportunity to discover who we are and what we can do.” -Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Differences And Individuality Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Work is the basis of living. I’ll never retire. A man’ll rust out quicker than he’ll wear out.” -Harland Sanders (Harland David ‘Colonel’ Sanders (1890 - 1980))

Overheard: When I asked for a work break, my supervisor said, “You don’t need a break. We gave you one when we hired you.”

“Get happiness out of your work or you may never know what happiness is.” -Elbert Hubbard (Elbert Green Hubbard (1856 - 1915))

“Remember, work, well done, does good to the man who does it. It makes him a better man.” -George S. Clason: “The Richest Man in Babylon” (1930)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Efforts And Benefits Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“As a remedy against all ills - poverty sickness and melancholy - only one thing is absolutely necessary: A liking for work.” -Charles Baudelaire (Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821 - 1867))

“You’ve achieved success in your field when you don’t know whether what you’re doing is work or play.” -Warren Beatty (Henry Warren Beatty (born Henry Warren Beaty in 1937))
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Playtime And Playing Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“The best augury of a man’s success in his profession is that he thinks it the finest in the world.” -George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Anne Evans (1819 - 1880))

“By 1960, work will be limited to three hours a day.” -John Langdon-Davies (1897 - 1971)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read The Future And Predictions Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“The most important question to ask on the job is not, “What am I getting?” The most important question to ask on the job is, ‘What am I becoming?’” -Jim Rohn (Emanuel James ‘Jim’ Rohn (1930 - 2009)): “Jim Rohn’s Weekly E-zine” (11 February 2003)

“Be a friendly person to your co-workers. Say nice things to them. Help them when they least expect it.” -Jeffrey Gitomer (born 1946)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Encouragement And Encouraging Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“If you do a good job and work hard, you may get a job with a better company someday.” -Author Unknown

“It is the first of all problems for a man to find out what kind of work he is to do in this Universe.” -Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881): “Address at Edinburgh” (2 April 1866)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Beginning And Starting Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness.” -Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881): “Past and Present” (1843), Book III, chapter 11

“Find something in life you can give the best of yourself to.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Inspiration And Motivation Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

We are MFOL! . . . we know you labor long hours without much recognition and encouragement - but continue to do excellent work!

Work

9/8/2025

Picture of a woman leading a flock of geese, with a trained collie dog following at the rear of the flock to keep any of the birds from wandering off, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Work

Let me but do my work from day to day,
In field or forest, at the desk or loom,
In roaring market-place or tranquil room;
Let me but find it in my heart to say,
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray,
   “This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;
   “Of all who live, I am the one by whom
“This work can best be done in the right way.”
Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,
   To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;
   Then shall I cheerful greet the laboring hours,
And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall
     At eventide, to play and love and rest,
     Because I know for me my work is best.

By Henry van Dyke: “The Poems of Henry Van Dyke” (1933)

Henry Jackson van Dyke, Junior was born on 10 November 1852 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, United States of America. He became a Presbyterian minister, an educator, a short story writer, a poet, and an essayist. Henry Jackson van Dyke, Junior passed on at 80 years of age on 10 April 1933 in Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America.

Words Of Thomas Dekker

9/7/2025

Picture of a man using a rake to clear cut and dried grass out of a yard, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Words Of Thomas Dekker

To awaken each morning with a smile brightening my face;
To greet the day with reverence for the opportunities it contains;
To approach my work with a clean mind;
To hold ever before me, even in the doing of little things,
The Ultimate Purpose toward which I am working;
To meet men and women with laughter on my lips and love in my heart;
To be gentle, kind, and courteous through all the hours;
To approach the night with weariness that ever woos sleep,
And the joy that comes from work well done -
This is how I desire to waste wisely my days.

By Thomas Dekker

Thomas Dekker was born in about 1572 in London, England. He became a playwright and a pamphleteer. Thomas Dekker passed on at about 60 years of age on 25 August 1632 in London, England.

The Hard-Work Plan

9/6/2025

Picture of a man laying ceramic tile inside a building, and the words, Humor And Inspiration And Learning About The Hard-Work Plan Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

The Hard-Work Plan

From the lowest depths of poverty
     To the highest heights of fame,
From obscureness of position
     To a bright and shining name,
From the mass of human beings
     Who compose the common clan,
You can earn your way to greatness
     By the Hard-Work Plan.

’Twas the key to Lincoln’s progress,
     ’Twas the route to Webster’s fame;
And Garfield by this method
     To distinction laid his claim;
And all earth’s noblest heroes,
     Since this old world first began,
Have earned their way to honor
     By the Hard-Work Plan.

I knew a rich old banker’s son
     Who had no aim in view
But just to sit around and loaf;
     ’Twas all he had to do.
“The old man,” he said, “will keep me,”
     And “I don’t have to pay.”
He earns his bread and butter now
     At fifty cents a day.

And then I knew another lad;
     His folks had money, too;
He didn’t sit around and “loaf,”
     But found some work to do.
The neighbors all were proud of him;
     Said they: “He’ll make a man.”
He earned his way to greatness
     By the Hard-Work Plan.

Go read the lives of men of note,
     Consider their success;
What gave them wealth and eminence?
     Did luck or genius bless?
Biography will tell us that
     The race through which they ran
Was the contest known to history
     As the Hard-Work Plan.

Don’t worry over genius;
     Don’t say you have no brain;
Don’t sit and watch the stars of hope
     Till the clouds bring up a rain;
But up and toil along the road,
     And travel with the van,
And earn your way to greatness
     By the Hard-Work Plan.

By Jonathan Jones

Stick To Your Job

9/5/2025

Picture of a man standing in a hole, using a shovel to throw dirt out of the hole, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Stick To Your Job

Diamonds are only chunks of coal
     That stuck to their jobs, you see;
If they’d petered out, as most of us do,
     Where would the diamonds be?

It isn’t the fact of making a start,
     It’s the sticking that counts. I’ll say,
It’s the fellow that knows not the meaning of fall,
     But hammers and hammers away.

Whenever you think you’ve come to the end,
     And you’re beaten as bad as can be,
Remember that diamonds are chunks of coal,
     That stuck to their jobs, you see.

By Minnie Richard Smith: as published in Christian F. Kleinknecht: “Poor Richard’s Anthology of Thoughts on Success” (1947), page 44

Ten Enthusiastic Workers

9/4/2025

Picture of a group of people from various types of work, including a plumber, a waitress, a news reporter, a mechanic, a photographer, a veterinarian, a schoolteacher, a postal worker, a tax preparer, a police officer, a painter, a realtor, and a computer technician, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Ten Enthusiastic Workers

Ten enthusiastic workers, vigorous and fine;
One had another commitment, and then there were nine.

Nine enthusiastic workers, excited and elate;
One got hired away, and then there were eight.

Eight enthusiastic workers, keeping things even;
One got sloppy, and then there were seven.

Seven enthusiastic workers, giving it their best;
One found it tedious, and then there were six.

Six enthusiastic workers, looking all alive;
One fell asleep, and then there were five.

Five enthusiastic workers, keeping up their score;
One showed up late, and then there were four.

Four enthusiastic workers, bright as bright can be;
One became careless, and then there were three.

Three enthusiastic workers, seeking work to do;
One thought he couldn’t, and then there were two.

Two enthusiastic workers, proud of good things done;
One grew too tired, and then there was one.

One enthusiastic worker, still hanging on;
Because persevering had made him strong.

By David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)

The Boy Without A Reference

9/3/2025

Picture of a boy or young man, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

The Boy Without A Reference

John was fifteen, and anxious to get a desirable place in the office of a well-known lawyer, who had advertised for a boy. John doubted his success in obtaining this position, because, being a stranger in the city, he had no reference to present.

“I am afraid I will stand a poor chance,” he thought, despondently. “However, I will try to appear as well as I can, and that may help me a little.”

So he was careful to have his dress and person neat, and when he took his turn to be interviewed, went in with his hat in his hand and a smile on his face.

The keen-eyed lawyer glanced him over from head to foot. “Good face,” he thought, “and pleasant ways.” Then he noted the neat suit - but other boys had appeared in new clothes - saw the well-brushed hair, and clean skin. Very well; but there had been others quite as cleanly. Another glance, however, showed the fingernails free from dirt. “Ah, that looks like thoroughness,” thought the lawyer.

Then he asked a few direct, rapid questions, which John answered as directly. “Prompt,” was his mental comment; “can speak up when necessary.”

“Let’s see your writing,” he added aloud.

John took a pen and wrote his name.

“Very well; easy to read, and no flourishes. Now, what references have you?”

The dreadful question at last! John’s face fell. He had begun to feel some hope of success, but this dashed it again.

“I haven’t any,” he said, slowly. “I am almost a stranger in the city.”

“Cannot take a boy without references,” was the brusque reply.

As he spoke, a sudden thought sent a flush to John’s cheek. “I haven’t any reference,” he said, with hesitation; “but here is a letter from Mother which I just received. I wish you would read it.”

The lawyer took it. It was a short letter:

My Dear John,

I want to remind you that wherever you find work, you must consider that work your own. Do not go into it, as some boys do, with the feeling that you will do as little as you can and get something better soon, but make up your mind that you will do as much as possible, and make yourself so necessary to your employer that he will never let you go. You have been a good son to me, and I can truly say that I have never known you to shirk. Be as good in business, and I am sure God will bless your efforts.

“Hmm!” said the lawyer, reading it over the second time. “That’s pretty good advice, John, excellent advice. I rather think I will try you, even without the references.”

John has been with him six years, and last spring was admitted to the bar.

“Do you intend taking that young man into partnership?” asked a friend lately.

“Yes, I do. I could not get along without John; he is my right-hand man!” exclaimed the lawyer, heartily.

And John always says the best reference he ever had was his mother’s good advice and honest praise.

By Author Unknown

The Farmer

9/2/2025

Picture of a farmer using a pitchfork to load a field crop onto a wagon, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

The Farmer

The dawn is here! I climb the hill;
     The earth is young and strangely still;
A tender green is showing where
     But yesterday my fields were bare . . .
I climb and, as I climb, I sing;
     The dawn is here, and with it - spring!

My oxen stamp the ground, and they
     Seem glad, with me, that soon the day
Will bring new work for us to do!
     The light above is clear and blue;
And one great cloud that swirls on high,
     Seems sent from earth to kiss the sky.

The birds are coming back again,
     They know that soon the golden grain
Will wave above this fragrant loam;
     The birds, with singing, hasten home;
And I, who watch them, feel their song.
     Deep in my soul, and nothing wrong,

Or mean or small, can touch my heart . . .
     Down in the vale the smoke-wreaths start,
To softly curl above the trees;
     The fingers of a vagrant breeze
Steal tenderly across my hair,
     And toil is fled, and want, and care!

The dawn is here! I climb the hill;
     My very oxen seem to thrill -
To feel the mystery of day.
     The sun creeps out, and far away
From man-made law I worship God,
     Who made the light, the cloud, the sod;
I worship smilingly, and sing!
     The dawn is here, and with it - spring!

By Margaret E. Sangster

Margaret Elizabeth Sangster was born on 22 February 1838 in New Rochelle, New York, United States of America. She was married to George Sangster in October 1858. She became a writer, a poet, and a magazine editor. Her autobiography is titled, “From My Youth Up: Personal Reminiscences” (1909). Margaret Elizabeth Sangster passed on at 74 years of age on 3 June 1912 in South Orange, New Jersey, United States of America.

If I Were Boss

9/1/2025

Picture of a happy smiling man going over documents at a desk in an office workplace, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

If I Were Boss

If I were boss I would like to say:
     “You did a good job here today.”
I’d look for a man, a girl or boy
     Whose heart would leap with a thrill of joy.

A word of appreciation, I’d pass it out
     Where the crowd would hear as I walked about.
If I were boss I would like to find
     The fellow whose work is the proper kind.

And whenever to me a good thing came
     I’d ask to be told the toiler’s name,
And I’d go to him, I’d pat his back
     And I’d say, “That was perfectly splendid, Jack!”

Now a bit of appreciation isn’t much to give,
     But it’s dear to the hearts of all who live;
And there’s never a man on this good old earth
     But is glad to be told he’s been of worth.

And a kindly word, when the work is fair,
     Is welcome and wanted everywhere.
If I were boss I am sure I would
     Say a kind word whenever I could.

For a man who has given his best by day
     Wants a little more than his weekly pay;
He likes to know, with the setting sun,
     That his boss is pleased with the work he’s done.

By Norma Kibbe

The Secret Of Success

8/31/2025

Picture of dark blue Huckleberries on a dark green leafy Huckleberry Bush, and the words Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Image Credit: Photograph By Bruno Karklis - Used Under CC 3.0 - Adapted

The Secret Of Success

One day in huckleberry time, when little Johnny Flails
     And half a dozen other boys were starting with their pails
To gather berries, Johnny’s pa, in talking with him, said
     That he could tell him how to pick so he’d come out ahead.

“First find your bush,” said Johnny’s pa, “and then stick to it till
     You’ve picked it clean. Let those go chasing all about who will
In search of better bushes, but it’s picking tells, my son.
     To look at fifty bushes doesn’t count like picking one.”

And Johnny did as he was told, and sure enough he found
     By sticking to his bush while all the others chased around
In search of better picking, ‘twas as his father said;
     For while the others looked he worked, and so came out ahead.

And Johnny recollected this when he became a man.
     And first of all he laid him out a well-determined plan.
So while the brilliant triflers failed with all their brains and push,
     Wise steady-going Johnny won by “sticking to his bush.”

By Nixon Waterman

Nixon Waterman was born on 12 November 1859 in Newark, Kendall County, Illinois, United States of America, as the son of Lyman Waterman and Elizabeth Waterman. He lived on a farm until he was 20 years of age, teaching school during the winter months, and began his newspaper career at 21 years of age in the mechanical department of a country weekly in Creston, Iowa. Mr. Waterman was married on 14 March 1883 to Nellie Haskins of Menasha, Wisconsin. Weary of being a press operator, he tried his hand at other branches of the business, and made rapid progress. He first won flattering recognition as a newspaper editorial writer in Omaha, Nebraska. He moved to Chicago in October 1889, where he supplied the editorial page of the Chicago “Herald” with witty and catchy rhymes printed under the caption, “Small Change,” which were copied in publications across America. When the proprietors of the “Herald” started the “Evening Post,” he was one of the coteries selected to create for that venture the conditions of popularity with the public. After seven months on the “Post,” he went back to the “Herald,” but a year later resigned to work for “Puck,” “Truth,” “Youth’s Companion” and other popular weekly newspapers and magazines. Nixon Waterman was a newspaper writer, a poet, a book author, and a Chautauqua lecturer. His first wife Nellie Waterman (maiden name Haskins) passed on sometime in 1940, and in November 1940, he married Grace Sanford Leavitt. Nixon Waterman passed on at 84 years of age on 1 September 1944 in Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States of America.

Home Building

8/30/2025

Picture of a two-story single-family house with a green grassy lawn, flowering plants, and green leafy trees around it, and the words Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Home Building

Of all the work I’ve ever done
     That which I liked best -
Was building homes for grateful souls
     Where they might take their rest.

They give me a feeling of humble pride,
     Those homes of brick and wood -
To know that they have sheltered love
     Through all the years they’ve stood.

By Rea Williams

How Do You Tackle Your Work?

8/29/2025

Picture of a man welding pieces of metal together, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

How Do You Tackle Your Work?

How do you tackle your work each day?
     Are you scared of the job you find?
Do you grapple the task that comes your way
     With a confident, easy mind?
Do you stand right up to the work ahead
     Or fearfully pause to view it?
Do you start to toil with a sense of dread?
     Or feel that you’re going to do it?

You can do as much as you think you can,
     But you’ll never accomplish more;
If you’re afraid of yourself, young man,
     There’s little for you in store.
For failure comes from the inside first,
     It’s there if we only knew it,
And you can win, though you face the worst,
     If you feel that you’re going to do it.

Success! It’s found in the soul of you,
     And not in the realm of luck!
The world will furnish the work to do,
     But you must provide the pluck.
You can do whatever you think you can,
     It’s all in the way you view it.
It’s all in the start you make, young man:
     You must feel that you’re going to do it.

How do you tackle your work each day?
     With confidence clear, or dread?
What to yourself do you stop and say
     When a new task lies ahead?
What is the thought that is in your mind?
     Is fear ever running through it?
If so, just tackle the next you find
     By thinking you’re going to do it.

By Edgar A. Guest: “A Heap o’ Livin’” (1916)

Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.

Work

8/28/2025

Picture of a man hanging from a cable on the outside of a skyscraper, cleaning the exterior of the building, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Work

Work, work, my boy, be not afraid;
     Look labor boldly in the face;
Take up the hammer or the spade,
     And blush not for your humble place.

There’s glory in the shuttle’s song;
     There’s triumph in the anvil’s stroke;
There’s merit in the brave and strong
     Who dig the mine or fell the oak.

The wind disturbs the sleeping lake,
     And bids it ripple pure and fresh;
It moves the green boughs till they make
     Grand music in their leafy mesh.

And so the active breath of life
     Should stir our dull and sluggard wills;
For are we not created rife
     With health, that stagnant torpor kills?

I doubt if he who lolls his head
     Where idleness and plenty meet,
Enjoys his pillow or his bread
     As those who earn the meals they eat.

And man is never half so blest
     As when the busy day is spent
So as to make his evening rest
     A holiday of glad content.

By Eliza Cook

Eliza Cook was born on 24 December 1818 in London Road, Southwark, England. She became a poet. Eliza Cook passed on at 70 years of age on 23 September 1889 in Wimbledon, England.

The Village Blacksmith

8/27/2025

Picture of a blacksmith holding a piece of heated metal on an anvil while using a hammer to shape the metal, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

The Village Blacksmith

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
     The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
     With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
     Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
     His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
     He earns whate’er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
     For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
     You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
     With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
     When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
     Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
     And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
     Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
     And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
     He hears his daughter’s voice,
Singing in the village choir,
     And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother’s voice,
     Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
     How in the grave she lies;
And with his haul, rough hand he wipes
     A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling, - rejoicing, - sorrowing,
     Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
     Each evening sees it close
Something attempted, something done,
     Has earned a night’s repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
     For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
     Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
     Each burning deed and thought.

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1840)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on 27 February 1807 in Portland, Maine, United States of America. He became a poet and a writer, and a professor at Harvard University. His works include “Paul Revere’s Ride” (1860) and the epic “The Song of Hiawatha” (1855). He was one of the five members of a group of 19th-century American poets from New England known as the Fireside Poets. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow passed on at 75 years of age on 24 March 1882.

Volunteers

8/26/2025

Picture of a happy smiling man wearing a t-shirt printed with the word, Volunteer, while pushing a handcart loaded with boxes labelled, Medicine and Food, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Volunteers

Valuable is the work you do.
Outstanding in how you always come through.
Loyal, sincere and full of good cheer,
Untiring in your efforts throughout the year.
Notable are the contributions you make,
Trustworthy in every project you take.
Eager to reach your every goal,
Effective in the way you fulfill your role.
Ready with a smile like a shining star,
Special and wonderful - that’s what you are.

By Author Unknown: acrostic poem
(An acrostic poem or list is one in which the first letters of each line combine to spell a word or phrase.)

Farming

8/25/2025

Picture of a happy smiling man standing next to a tractor in a farm field, and the words, Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Farming Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Farming

Farming has always brought me peace,
     It’s a partnership with God -
I plant the seeds, He makes them grow
     Where before there was only sod.

Through hot summer days I cultivate,
     He sends sun and rain -
Then when autumn cools the air
     There’s harvest of golden grain.

By Rea Williams

Janitors And Garbage Collectors

8/24/2025

Picture of a multicolored background, and the words, Humor And Inspiration And Learning About Janitors And Garbage Collectors Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont - Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Sign on the side of a garbage truck: “It may be garbage to you, but it’s our bread and butter.”

“Watch the sun come up, breathe fresh air, exercise your body . . . become a garbage collector!” -Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Efforts And Benefits Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

A father was asked by his friend, “Has your son decided what he wants to be when he grows up?” “Yes, he wants to be a garbage collector,” replied the boy’s father. His friend thought for a moment and responded, “That’s a rather minor ambition to have for a career.” “Well,” said the boy’s father, “he thinks that garbage collectors only work on Tuesdays.”

Sure, we make jokes about janitors and garbage collectors, but without the men and women who clean up messes and haul away trash, civilization would break down, and then collapse entirely, as we end up buried in our own refuse.

An about one-and-one-half meters (four feet, ten inches) tall janitor named Bill worked at the wealthiest private school in town. He ordered some cleaning supplies by phone from the custodial supplies warehouse. When the supplies arrived, the delivery truck driver asked Bill to sign for them. Bill went into the headmaster’s office and asked the headmaster to sign for them. Puzzled, the headmaster told Bill to sign for them. “I can’t,” said Bill. “I can’t read or write.” “Well,” replied the headmaster, “I’m going to have to let you go, Bill. I’m sorry, but it just won’t do for us to have a janitor who cannot read or write working here.” Bill started walking home, wondering how he was going to tell his family the bad news about his job loss. He reached into his pocket for his wallet to count how much money he had left - and his well-worn pants ripped apart. He searched the neighborhood looking for a shop that sold smaller size men’s clothes, but could find none. And then he got an idea: Short and small men have money to spend and they need clothes just like everyone else. When he got home, he told his wife he was going to open a shop that sells smaller size men’s clothes. The venture was so successful that Bill soon opened another shop, and then another. In ten years, he opened his tenth store. A feature writer from a big city newspaper came to interview Bill on this successful occasion. When she had finished the interview, she asked Bill if he would like to read over her notes. “Yes, I would like to,” said Bill “but I can’t read or write.” “My goodness!” said the young lady. “You’ve accomplished so much. Just imagine what you would be if you could read and write!” “Yes,” smiled Bill. “I would be a janitor in a private school.”
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Adversities And Persevering Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Picture of garbage collectors loading bags of garbage onto a garbage truck in the pouring rain, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

“Learning how to collect trash wasn’t hard. I just picked it up as I went along.” -Author Unknown

Riddle: What has four wheels and flies?
Solution: A garbage truck!

Roger: Why did the janitor go to college?
Jerome: Because he realized that grime doesn’t pay.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Money Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

A very small female janitor, who was about one-and-one-half meters (four feet, ten inches) tall and weighed about forty-one kilograms (ninety pounds), was working at an amusement park, and was told to go out and sweep up the trash. As she was getting ready to start cleaning up, her supervisor noticed that she was putting rocks in her pockets. When the supervisor asked her what she was doing, she said, “It’s very windy out there, and I’ll get knocked over by the wind . . . so . . . now I weigh me down to sweep!”

Rob: Have you heard the joke about the garbage truck?
Bert: Yes, but I heard it’s only a load of rubbish.

Moving silent here and there
fixing my world without a thank you
your hands are rough from the work you do
your back aches low and muscles sore
your broom shows evidence of work unseen
the hallways shine and rooms always clean
the gum I stuck under my chair
doesn’t get to tarry long there
you fight the woes of teens day in and out
your frustrations make you want to scream
food fights here and ball games there
I walk through your world without care
thank you for the work you’ve done
and will do, for though I may not see you much
I know what you do.
-Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Poems And Poetry Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Question: What did the janitor say when he jumped out of the cleaning closet?
Answer: Supplies!

Overheard: I did not get my degree in the custodial arts just to be called a janitor!

Picture of a sign reading, Garbage Only No Trash, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

Riddle: How do you throw away a trash can?
Solution: Easy - just toss it into a garbage container!

National Custodial Workers Recognition Day is on 2 October of each year. Give your custodial worker, janitor, or garbage collector a big thanks. At your school, church, place of employment, shopping center, in your neighborhood, and at a variety of other places, the custodial support staff is quietly at work and often unnoticed. They work during the day, in the nighttime, and on weekends and holidays. They are the workers who clean and keep in good repair the facility that you enjoy. They clear away the trash and grime. They seldom get recognition. Take a minute on this day, to seek out custodial workers at your facility. Give them a big “Thank you” for all that they do to keep the facility sparkling and running like a top. If you are a custodial worker, we wish you a very happy National Custodial Workers Day!

Pete: Why did the teacher marry the janitor?
Pamela: Because he swept her off her feet!
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Marriage Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“The custodian (Alice Casey) was coming down the hallway with a loud clunky trash can on wheels, and the snake was coming the opposite way in the same hallway. They both froze and she said she didn’t know which one was more afraid.” -Nancy Moore

“Janitorial service: Grand Ole Mopry.” -Frank Tyger (1929 - 2011)

A typical school janitor works Monday through Friday and has weekends off. He or she starts work at 7:00 in the morning and finishes work at 4:30 in the afternoon. Another janitor works with him or her. The janitor sweeps the sidewalks, cuts the grass, mops the floors, vacuums the carpets, washes the windows, empties the trash, cleans the bathrooms, fills paper towel dispensers, dusts furniture, changes light bulbs, and has other tasks. A school janitor keeps the school clean and maintained. He or she is proud of the good job that he or she does. The principle and the teachers are nice to him or her. The students like him or her too. Even the parents may know his or her name.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Employment And Work Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“You are not ready to be the President until you are ready to be the Janitor.” -Steve McKee

Garbage can: A container for dogs, put out once a week to test their ingenuity. They must stand on their hind legs and try to push the lid off with their nose. However, pushing the whole thing over usually makes the contents more easily accessible. When done right, they are rewarded with margarine wrappers to shred, beef bones to chew on, and moldy crusts of bread.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Domestic Dogs Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

Man: How’s business?
Garbage Collector: It’s picking up.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
You clean up after me -
So I’d like to thank you.
-Author Unknown: Valentine’s Day card for a janitor
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Valentine’s Day Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” -Author Unknown

Garbage man: Sanitation engineer.

“This day, be thankful for the garbage collectors who pick up your garbage. Without them, you would have to decorate your home with empty aluminum and steel cans, plastic bottles, cardboard food boxes, and plastic food bags. And you would have to walk around with a clip on your nose, which would end any hopes you would have of getting a date.” -Author Unknown
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read Gratitude And Thankfulness Gathered By David Hugh Beaumont.

The preceding humor is dedicated to everyone who works for a living at a difficult job, often doing things they would rather not do. We salute you, and encourage you to continue reaching for what you want in life. And, for anyone who thinks badly of these people, consider not speaking badly of janitors and garbage collectors and other folks until after you have personally tried the work they do for at least a month to learn what it is really all about - if you can even manage to do it for that long, which you probably will not be able to, because doing long lonely hours of hard work for low wages and no appreciation, while dealing with frequent belittling from people who believe they are better than you, is not easy on the human spirit. These are the people who do not know the meaning of the word quit; they are the people who stick with things for the long haul. They can and do, as we always say, MFOL! (Make Fun Of Life!)

The Man Who Gets Promoted

8/23/2025

Picture of a man adjusting metal parts on a crane, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

The Man Who Gets Promoted

The ordinary fellow does an ordinary task,
     He’s mighty fond of ‘good enough’ and lets it go at that;
But the chap who gets promoted, or the raise he doesn’t ask,
     Has just a little something more than hair beneath his hat.

The ordinary fellow lives an ordinary day,
     With the ordinary fellow he is anxious to be quit;
But the chap who draws attention and the larger weekly pay,
     Has a vision for the future and is working hard for it.

He tackles every problem with the will to see it through,
     He does a little thinking of the work that comes to hand;
His eyes are always open for the more that he can do,
     You never find him idle, merely waiting a command.

The ordinary fellow does precisely as he’s told,
     But someone has to tell him what to do, and how, and when;
But the chap who gets promoted fills the job he has to hold
     With just a little something more than ordinary men.

By Edgar A. Guest: “The Passing Throng” (1923)

Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.

An Aim

7/13/2025

Picture of a man and a woman harvesting hay in a field, using a pitchfork to gather and throw the hay into a big long trailer pulled by a farm tractor that a third person is driving, under a clear blue sky, and the words, Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.

An Aim

Give me a man who says,
     “I will do something well,
And make the fleeting days
     A story of labor tell.”

Though the aim he has be small,
     It is better than none at all;
With something to do the whole year through,
     He will not stumble at all.

Better to strive and climb
     And never reach the goal
Than to glide along with time
     An aimless, worthless soul.

Aye, better to climb and fall,
     And sow, though the yield be small,
Than to throw away, day after day,
     And never strive at all.

By Author Unknown

Dean’s Rules For Managers To Live By

8/28/2024

Picture of two men on either side of a third man, who is pointing with his finger at something on a piece of paper and holding a pencil, and the words, ‘Visit www.MakeFunOfLife.net.’

Dean’s Rules For Managers To Live By

1. If you can’t do your subordinates’ job, you shouldn’t be managing them.

2. Never forget that you, the manager, were once a worker.

3. Always remember, your subordinates have lives too.

4. Never ask a subordinate to do a task or job that you are either unwilling or unable to do.

5. If a subordinate asks you a question, make every effort to answer the question as quickly and as accurately as possible.

6. If a subordinate makes a request and it is feasible based on the facts at hand, grant it. If you cannot grant the request, explain fully why not.

7. As a manager and a leader, you must remain calm and collected at all times.

8. Those beneath you support you. Without their support, you will fall. Without their work and dedication, you are nothing.

9. Never make a promise, comment, or statement that you will not stand by or keep.

10. Back your subordinates up. Never leave them “hanging out to dry.”

11. All disciplinary measures should be in-house and confidential. Praise in public, punish in private.

By Dean Tabor

Copyright 1990 by Dean Tabor at
http://www.tomstrong.org/public/misc/rules.for.managers.txt

The Thumb

10/1/2021

The Thumb

Hail to the thumb, the useful thumb,
     The grasper, the holder, the doer of deeds,
Where fingers are futile and tools succumb,
     Stolid, ungainly, the thumb succeeds.

Hail to the thumb, the homely thumb;
     Rings and jewels are not for it,
Compliments, dainty and frolicsome,
     For fingers are suited, for thumbs unfit.

Hail to the thumb, the modest thumb;
     Gently and calmly it hides away,
Never for it a banner and drum,
     Or praise at the end of a strenuous day.

And hail to the men who are like the thumb;
     Men who are never sung by a bard,
Men who are laboring, modestly dumb,
     Faithfully doing the work that is hard.

Some day, men of the toiling thumb,
     Men of the modest, invincible worth,
Some day your high reward will come,
     From the Hand of the Lord of Heaven and Earth!

by Author Unknown

Hard Work

9/30/2021

Picture of a man who works as a tile setter or tile installer, first standing with hands on hips and looking serious, then holding a level and a large tile, then smiling broadly and laughing.

Hard Work

It’s hard to keep smiling when troubles are piling
     Their weight on your neck till it’s sprained;
It’s hard to keep grinning when others are winning
     The prizes for which you have strained.
It’s hard to be cheery on days wet and dreary,
     When everything near you looks drowned;
It’s hard to be sunny when all of your money
     Is sunk in a hole in the ground.
It’s hard to keep laughing when wearily quaffing
     The flagon of grief to the dregs,
It’s harder to frolic when you have the colic,
     Or gout at the end of your legs.
But how will it aid you, when woe has waylaid you,
     To rumble and grumble and swear?
There’s nothing that’s healing in kicking the ceiling,
     Or biting the rungs from a chair.
It’s hard to look pleasant when anguish is present,
     And yet it is strictly worth while;
Not all of your scowling and fussing and growling
     Can show off your grit like a smile.

by Walt Mason: “Terse Verse” (1917)

Walter S. ‘Walt’ Mason was born on 4 May 1862 in Columbus, Ontario, Canada. He started out as a farmhand and a laborer, but soon became a newspaperman, eventually after many years writing a syndicated column, “Rippling Rhymes.” Walter S. ‘Walt’ Mason passed on at 77 years of age on 22 June 1939 in La Jolla, California, United States of America.

Don’t Knock

9/4/2021

Picture of a worker wearing a hardhat at a construction site, making a hole in a wood beam using a manual hand-drill, with construction equipment, a blue sky, and fluffy white clouds in the background.

Don’t Knock

You can’t saw wood with a hammer, my son,
     Nor polish a marble with knocks;
You’ll not long deceive with great clamor, my son,
     Nor profit by throwing of rocks;
You never can rise to the heights of success
     By pulling down others who’ve gained it.
By steadily working through storm and stress -
     They’ve buckled to work, not disdained it.

You can’t saw wood with a hammer, my son,
     Nor polish a diamond with bricks;
The world soon tires of mere glamor, my son,
     And punctures the sharpest of tricks.
You never can rise by mere envy or hate,
     Or growling at those who’ve succeeded
By honestly toiling both early and late -
     ’Tis workers, not shirkers, that’s needed.

You can’t saw wood with a hammer, my son,
     Nor fasten bridge timbers with tacks;
The world soon shuns a wind-jammer, my son;
     You can’t build to last with mere wax.
To win you must hustle with might and with main,
     And give recompense for your wages,
For those who strive hardest deserve greatest gain -
     True worth is the best of all gauges.

You can’t saw wood with a hammer, my son,
     Nor write for the future in sand;
The world asks more than mere clamor, my son -
     It’s work of the brain and the hand
So labor away with a whistle and laugh,
     And scatter good cheer as you labor.
Don’t worry - the world soon winnows out chaff -
     It’s the wheat that you sell to your neighbor.

by Will M. Maupin: as published in “The Commoner” newspaper

William Major ‘Will’ Maupin was born on 31 August 1863 in Callaway County, Missouri, United States of America. Early in his career he was a roaming reporter, traveling to places as distant as Winnipeg, Canada and Caracas, Venezuela. He became a newspaper columnist, editor, newspaper founder, civil servant, and book author, eventually settling in Nebraska. He worked for some 40 newspapers over his lifetime, including the “Omaha World-Herald,” “The Commoner,” and the “Hastings Democrat.” His published books include “Limnings” (1898), being the collected writings from his newspaper column of the same name, as well as “Whether Common or Not: A Little Book of Sketches and Verse” (1903), “Kiddies Six: A Modest Volume of Verse” (1911), “Nebraska Facts” (1918), and “Sunny Side Up: Poems” (1926). William Major ‘Will’ Maupin passed on at 84 years of age on 8 June 1948 in Nebraska, United States of America.

Words of Harlow H. Curtice

7/17/2020

Words of Harlow H. Curtice

Do it the hard way! Think ahead of your job. Then nothing in the world can keep the job ahead from reaching out for you. Do it better than it need be done. Next time doing it will be child’s play. Let no one or anything stand between you and the difficult task, let nothing deny you this rich chance to gain strength by adversity, confidence by mastery, success by deserving it. Do it better each time. Do it better than anyone else can do it. I know this sounds old-fashioned. It is, but it has built the world.

by Harlow H. Curtice

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