Mentor Morning: What’s your story?

Next Saturday at Mentor Morning we’ll talk about the power of story. Please bring a story we haven’t heard to share with the group.

Here’s my story…

It was the last load of the day, and a good thing too, because the sky was dark with the promise of rain.

I was seventeen and my truck was loaded to the brim with wheat as I bounced gently over the plowed field on my way to the granary some twenty miles away. I felt the first wheel go –– a slight shift in the rear of the truck –– without knowing what it was. The second was more dramatic. The bed hit the dirt hard. My truck stopped dead. I leapt out of the cab to find that the weight of the load had driven the axle into the dirt. The bed was on the ground on one side and had lost both of its dual tires.

Then it started to rain.

I ran the mile back to the combine and the rest of the crew where Abe yelled his instructions, “Ted, use the Jeep go to the shop and grab the jacks and as many blocks as she’ll hold. Get back here as fast as you can. Dave get the empty truck. You and John cover the load with the tarp and start transferring it. We got to save that wheat.”

We moved.

When I got back to the broken truck, Abe had the buried axle almost uncovered. Dave and John had half the wheat moved to the other truck, lightening the load considerably. The first squall had passed but a second was on the way. The surface of the dirt had turned to mud and Abe was covered in it, but it didn’t slow his efforts.

Abe had discovered that the wheel studs had snapped. They looked like they had crystalized. From age? From years of overload? Who knew? I was relieved. I was afraid that my driving had caused the wheels to fall off.

Abe began the careful process of jacking and blocking. Inch by inch he raised the truck high enough to block up the axle so he could remove the remains of the wheel studs and thread new ones into the axel flange.

Dave, John and I finished transferring the load. I drove the load to Central Ferry relieved to arrive before closing. I was thrilled to be a part of a team that knew how to move with care and speed in recovering from a disaster that could have cost the farm thousands in lost income from spoiled wheat. Thrilled to be working like a man. Included, needed, contributing just like the other men on the team.

This is how I discovered the pleasure of teamwork.

  •  March 24, 2018
     10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Location:   The De Anza III

Venue Phone: (206) 914-8338

Address:
4501 Shilshole Ave NW, Seattle, Washington, 98117, United States

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