Help Wanted

Because my wife and I live in the country, and because we have multiple barns, 8 horses and two cows, taking care of the property and animals is a lot of wwork.  Thus, for several years my wife has had a "helper" who works 2-3 days per week, for $15/hour, more than double the minimum wage.  Over the last 6 years, several different men have occupied the position. 

The first such person was very gifted in terms of mechanical know-how, repairing tractors, laying bricks, fixing electrical problems, etc.  But, he was utterly unreliable; she never knew when he would show for work.  Ultimately, he went to jail for multiple DUIs and we were forced to find a replacement.  The first such replacement hit it hard for a few days, and then tried to persuade us to accept his son as a replacement; neither worked.  We then found a middle-aged man who did a good job, but he was prone to leaving for Mexico on short notice, and reappearing, without prior notice, weeks later.

Most recently, we had an older man who was totally reliable in terms of getting here on time and on schedule, but had a tendency of "disappearing" for long stretches during the day, or sitting in his pickup while smoking cigarrettes.  Sadly, he was not a self-starter. He did exactly what he was asked to do, and nothing more.

So, this week we were thrilled when one of the workers at our church told us that he had found the right man for the job.  He was mid-thirties, and had no wife or children.  He was--until he started to work for us--working "day labor," showng up each morning at a place where other day laborers gathered to offer their services to persons in need of help.

He worked all day Tuesday, and my wife was generally pleased.  Thus, he and she agreed that he had the job starting immediately, working 8 hours a day, 3 days a week, for $15/hour cash.

On Thursday, his next working day, he did not show.  He instead left a message asking when he could be paid for the day he had worked, and making clear that he had changed his mind, and did not want the job.

Last night, he came by to collect, and explained that he had been offended when I was explaining to him that he should drive around and not over certain areas of our property, because "educated people use words that make [him] feel uncomfortable."  Well, the conversation to which he was pointing had occurred long before he agreed with my wife to take the job, and involved a mere request that he not drive over the fire-hose type water lines that supply our irrigation system.  This was obviously a pretext, so we remain baffled.  He stood to make more in three days working for us than he would if he worked five days as a day laborer.

Father