Across the alley a little later, visiting a friend, I spied a man driving down the alley picking up aluminum cans to turn in for money. I went up to him and asked if he might know someone who'd be willing to take out all those weeds and grasses, and the ivy between the two garages. He took my phone number, and Sean called me the next day. We arranged a time for him to come over and estimate the job.
Sean was quite a bit older than I had expected. He had a slight frame, a scraggly appearance, and a few missing teeth that were visible every time he flashed his frequent, cheery smile. As we talked about the job and what I wanted done, it seemed he couldn't wait to get to work -- he was idly bending down and pulling up weeds and ivy as we spoke! Sean estimated 4 hours at most, $10 per hour. Wow. Preparing for the worst, I tried to mentally justify $40 for this job even as we agreed he would come by at 7:30 the next morning to do it. I told him I'd check on him after a couple hours and see how things were coming and whether I wanted to continue.
The next morning, I peeked out my window at 7:45 and could see his truck outside my back fence. I poured a glass of ice water and prepared to bring it out to him. As soon as I opened the back door, Sage began barking, loud and long. I thought it was just because of the truck, but when we reached the fence, I realized Sean had brought his dog, too! I hesitated a moment -- I had never met this dog, and what would happen if I opened the gate? But finally I decided to take the risk, and Sage and Tank met one another and went through their heirarchy rituals until Tank found a shady spot to lie down and Sage concentrated on her favorite bone.
I went out and told Sean there was a glass of ice water on the bed of his pickup truck. To my amazement, he was already almost done with the ivy, and the tall grass behind the garage was already mowed down! There was very little left for him to do, really... As we chatted, he mentioned his union job and how they kept telling him to hang on, there was work coming, but each day nothing, so he had to take odd jobs in the meantime just to make ends meet. He mentioned another job he had started, and was supposed to finish, but the husband decided to finish it himself. Sean seemed to maintain a very upbeat attitude in spite of all this; he was hopeful, cheerful, and respectful, calling me ma'am throughout his work here.
When he finally finished around 8:30, I went out to inspect his work. Everything was done to perfection -- nothing more and nothing less than what I had asked, even though my directions might have been a bit vague ("just clean this all up, get rid of this junk," etc.). It was perfect. And he had done it in a little over an hour. I paid him for an hour and a half.
Sean took his first drink of the ice water I'd brought him when he was all finished. He obviously relished it, and when he tried to hand the glass back to me half-full, I said, "No rush, finish it if you'd like!" He took another couple big swigs and was done. Tank was already in the truck, and Sean described the full day ahead of him, including applying for a production job at a Sumner bakery.
It took Sean a while to leave, though, because he had an interlock device on his ignition, and it took a while for it to warm up. I found that out while I was rolling up my extension cord. Now, I know that anybody with one of these devices is paying a pretty penny to keep it installed. Which made me admire and appreciate Sean all the more for showing up on time and knocking out this job in a quarter of the time he had originally estimated.
Going through my morning routine, I couldn't get him out of my mind. Finally, about noon, my brain woke up and I called his cell, to let him know he could put me down as a reference on any job application he might turn in. He wasn't going to the Sumner bakery that day, though -- his union had called and he was on a flagging job as we spoke.
Something made me sniffle a little as we hung up. Maybe it was the hope that Sean would finally find some permanent employment despite his former setbacks. Maybe it was a bit of shame, the Susan Boyle variety, for having sort of judged him as a rather lazy ne'er-do-well based on his appearance, when he turned out to be one of the most reliable, honest, and hardworking helpers I've ever hired. Maybe it was a measure of regret for not having paid him more. I mean, he could have followed my instructions to a T, but that would have meant removing a section of fence, since one section of ivy/blackberry bushes covers an area where there's no fence underneath. Removing that would have left my backyard vulnerable. And Sean was wise enough to alert me to this before just plowing ahead. I hadn't even known about this. I assumed my yard was fully fenced!
Some of my neighbors made fun of me for having someone else do this work instead of doing it myself. But I don't feel bad. Sean needed the work more than I needed the money. And in the process, I was privileged to meet somebody who truly maintains a positive outlook even when circumstances might dictate otherwise. Despite all the reasons Sean might have had to complain about one thing or another, he never did. Not one word of complaint ever escaped his lips in my presence. I wonder if I can live up to his example.
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