The Nobles of the Earth…
“Thank you for your service.” Even in my time in the military it was a hard statement to respond to. “Thank you”. “You’re welcome”. “I appreciate it”. I felt, and feel sheepish when I hear it. Undeserving of this gratitude. It’s not an uncommon feeling amongst those I share a profession with, as well. The work we do, we do for ourselves; and yet, I’ve never seen a more selfless group of individuals. Each has their own quirks, their own knowledge base, expertise, experiences. But, we come together for a single purpose.
A heavy log that one person is struggling to swamp out of our path and you’ll see one or two people who already have logs of their own to rush and help. Coffee—a staple of our mornings—is made by one person in the morning who has volunteered him/her self to set up everything the night before, wake up early to brew and have coffee ready to pour by 5:50am. Our nightly dinners where three people get off the line an hour early to prepare a full scale meal for 21 hungry mouths. The dishes that need washed after, which take an entire team. The trailer that is strategically packed, just in case we have to leave in a hurry requires all hands. A scratch line can be made by a few people, a fire line requires a whole crew. We become one with many faces.
Who are the nobles of the earth,
The true aristocrats,
Who need not bow their heads to kings
Nor doff to lords their hats?
Who are they but the men of toil
Who cleave the forest down
And plant amid the wilderness
The forest and the towns?
-Stewart