As I write this, in my tent, my hands are cut, scarred, and dirty. They will stay like this for several days after I get back to town. Even after dipping them in the creek, using hand sanitizer, and even showers, they are dirty. It is what people in my field, trail work, call perma-dirt. It is a by-product of the work. And it’s not only on my hands. For days you will have dirt in your ears, your hair, and under you finger nails. Hikers will pass you by, thank you, but you still have the feeling that they are judging you because of the notable black spots under your nose. We wear it with pride.
We will stop to fill the gas up on our 4×4 trucks, go in to grab that drink we have been craving for days, and not care. People definitely see it as odd. Even the dirtiest person they see on a daily basis would not come in with their head held high and a huge sweet stain on their back. I do take pride in getting my hands dirty. The labor is what I enjoy the most, and I do think that it is not respected as much as it should. The common questions are; what do you want to do after? When I have no plans of doing anything else. Are you working to get through school? Which some of us are, but for me and others we already have a bachelor degree and just like this more. Doesn’t it get hot? As if air conditioning has been around for hundreds of years. Manual labor is the support system for civilization. For thousands of years there where not many choices in work other than manual labor, but as soon as we do have choices it seems we turn our back on those things that have propelled humans above all other animals on the planet.
Trade schools are dying while the business schools are building a second state-of-the-art building. And while we do need scientists, we still need farmers. I know that it has been said many times, and the times are changing where tech rules the world and not farms. But if there’s a child out there who wants to ride a tractor instead of work on wall street, we should support him/her. We should throw scholarships at them. I am glad that I choose to work outdoors. Looking back I am not sure why I wanted anything else. My guess is that I just didn’t know how good it was.
The best part of my job is that I get to guide others who don’t work outdoors normally, and see them have fun while building trails. I know the world is changing, and I hope I don’t turn into one of those older guys who shakes their fist at people with smartphones out while hiking, even though I am pretty sure I will. But for the time being I am enjoying getting my hands dirty and hoping that we don’t change too fast where I can’t enjoy it anymore.
