Country Strong

This one is for all the people from my small physical community. When I say small I mean it. If you combine the county I reside in, along with the closest neighboring county the total population is under 30,000 as of 2019. For comparison, the U.S. population is near 332 million. there are 3,142 total counties in the country. This means if you simply average it out; an average county's population is approximately 105,665. Of course, we must consider there are counties like: Los Angeles county with a population of 9.83 million, Travis county in Texas [the fifth most populous county in texas] comes in at just under 1 million people, then there are the counties like mine. Which, as of 2021, has a population of 20,372.

It seems apparent to me that the counties like mine are kind of like the skeleton to country. Perhaps my bias is showing. however, throughout my time of road construction I've been blessed enough to see my beautiful state of Utah basically in its entirety. I've paved in Salt Lake City and surrounding areas; I will admit the fast pace of life north of me is absolutely in contrast to the way I grew up and still choose to live today. I prefer to live life a bit slower. The industries in big cities astonish me, all the factories, all the huge buildings that I have no idea what happens inside of them, not to mention, all the amusement parks and other entertainment venues that seem so intriguing. Lastly, all the people! As The Beatles once sang, "where do they all come from? Where do they all belong?"

My point is, I have to admit that I don't really understand city living and the benefits there of, but I do sometimes enjoy making the trek north to take advantage of the vast variety, but in my field of work I have seen, and often semi-lived in the smallest places - relative to population - that the state has to offer.

The first thing I undoubtedly see in these types of places is a wheel line in a farmer's field watering down whatever crop they may be growing. The next thing I usually see is a small trucking company; set to deliver everything from food, fuel, dairy products, and livestock.

These aren't large corporate fields or companies that have access to untold amounts of capital, these are little cells of human congregation, these are the places that the owner still drives a truck for the company he owns, or the farmer works a full time job on top of maintaining his crop and livestock. While they will likely make a living doing it; they know they're not gonna make millions. They do it for independence, they do it for their families, and they do it because there's a need for it in their community. Yeah they will definitely sale to a large contract, but you can bet your bottom lip that they're gonna get their money's worth. Where as, if there is a family or group within their community that needs a helping hand they'll likely do it for base cost, or often times for free if they can spare it. Because in communities like these; everything that goes around comes back around. Not only do you know your neighbor's first and last name, you also know their grandparents, parents, and children. You know the roots in which they sprouted. Yes, communities like this are as strong as the roots that are in the very soil.

I'm proud to have grown in such a place as this, I don't know many people who even went to college, but the breadth and depth of their knowledge is truly a testament to the human will, from the grace of god. These men and women can "work it out." Their day job might be stocking produce at the local grocery, but to their mom and dad they're a free IT specialist. Maybe they work beneath the earth mining coal or other rare earth elements that make the world go around, but to their children they are: the plumber, the architect, the landscaper, or mechanic. The local bank teller is basically free financial and legal advice, not to mention if need something notarized on Sunday afternoon. When everything else is closed, don't worry. We'll "work it out."

I decided to write this publication on this Sunday morning, because I woke up before the rest of my family this morning. So I brewed a pot of coffee and just sat in the silence for awhile. I started thinking back on all the people that I have crossed paths with over the years. The things I've learned by just watching them perform so task that seemed so "run of the mill," or even trivial, but what they didn't know is that school was in session for me. I learned some things I could attempt, and probably some things I should never attempt. 😂

So I'm going to land this plane with a short story from when I started my career in road construction 13 years ago.

Like a Pack of Hungry Hyenas

My first day on a paving crew, I was completely lost. Everything I tried to help with just resulted in me being in the way of my far more competent co-workers, calling them my co-workers is actually kind of laughable as I watched the men attacking the pile asphalt with shovels and rakes as their weapons I was more like a newborn baby Gazelle watching a pack of hungry Hyenas gorging on a fresh kill. I was so intimidated I tried my best to just stay out of the way.

Some mornings when I was on my work I grew jealous of all the cars still parked in their driveway while the house's occupants still slumbered comfortably in their beds I was on my way to my own personal hell. Luckily, giving up so easily is not in my nature.

With each passing day, to the men I worked with I was like an annoying little gnat that came swarming by at the most inopportune times, but just like the relentlessness of an annoying little gnat I kept coming back. Picking up little tid-bits along the way. I wish I could say that after a couple of weeks I had it down. LMAO I did not. With the cool winds of fall and the changing color of leaves came the end of the paving season, and I was hoping my time as paving guy would follow.

I spent the winter months looking for any other option, I would work two jobs if need be I didn't care! Just so long as I never stepped another foot on 330 plus degree asphalt again! Well, as it often happens; the universe had other plans. For me as a new father, the money was simply too good to pass up. So come mid March of 2011 I again dawned my hard-hat, boots, and reflective vest.

As I drove to the yard that morning in my 1994 Buick LeSabre that I was gifted completely free of charge; I unintentionally started a conversation with myself. I don't remember it verbatim, but it went something like this:

Calm down.

It's not as big as you're making it.

Just remember some of the things you did well last year and keep doing them.

Jump in! you can't learn anything without trying it.

Just quit being so damned shy, and test the waters.

I finally arrive to the yard, hop in the back middle seat of the cramped work truck, (this is where the new guy always sits) and was surprised by how jovial the other men seemed. As they swapped stories of their hunting trips, discussed precarious situations they found themselves in, and spoke laughingly about things their children had said or done. They were genuinely happy for the reunion with one another, they were happy that paving season had once again began. They were happy to be at work, and I noticed.

We reached the jobsite there was already loud equipment and grumbling haul trucks buzzing around. The start of this job had been meticulously scheduled and planned for months and months and had already started into fruition before I even stepped out of the truck. It was all clicking like a well oiled machine, but to me I felt the anxieties from the year before begin to claw their way back in. For me that well thought out plan being executed in front of me felt like the very definition of the word pandemonium.

What was actually happening is a process called a Mill and Fill. Where a crew of two people and a large machine aptly named a Mill tore out a few inches of the old road and hauled it off. We would then come behind them with our crew of nine, and equipment consisting of: Shuttle Buggy, Paver, 3 vibratory Roller Compactors, water truck, and oil Distributor. Our job was to replace the few inches that was tore out by the mill crew with new asphalt, hence the "fill" part of the "Mill and Fill."

Anyway, as the mill completed the first pass and started to backup for the secondary pass I noticed a large pile of mill tailings left behind. Now was my chance I grabbed the nearest shovel and literally raced another guy to the pile, boxed him out like an NBA center trying for a rebound, and feverishly shoveled the piled into the bucket of the awaiting Back-Hoe bucket. Upon finishing disposing of the pile I quickly glanced at my boss perched in the cab of the backhoe, he gave me a quick but approving nod. I knew then that I would at least make it through the first day back.

Now, damn it if i don't always do this. This publication was intended to be no longer than 1500 words. The current word count is 1,993.

So in efforts to bring this to some sort of end I'll say this. Through my career and my life that exists parallel to it; I have traveled around the state, met all types of different people, been led by many, and even have led a few of my own. Each time I'm sure I have gained semblance of who I am today. I hated my job for the first couple of years, but I just "kept trucking." That job that I hated led to a career, that career led to a lifestyle, and that lifestyle is congruent to my families' and my own well being.

Travelling like I do is challenging not only for me, but also, for my wife, children, and loved ones. That doesn't stop us. We always strive to make today better than yesterday We always find a way to work it out. This isn't to say there aren't ugly or hard times along the way. No no, it isn't all "rainbows and unicorns," but there are always triumphs in one sense or another.

I love my community, there are bad apples, but overall we do what we can for the people around us. We don't really have a choice, as Carl Sagan once said, " there is no one coming to save you from yourself." We are in it together, and that's what makes us "Country Strong."

To me this publication is another example of how I want the averagebejamin community to flourish. I enjoy each and everyone of you, and I'm thoroughly. grateful to be a part of this flourishing online community. It's growing all the time. after last week's Word of the Week we saw a 363% jump in interactions and growth, and that is thanks to all of you ❤️ let us keep growing, share with your friends and family, and remember that together we are all perfectly average.

This has been Average Benjamin,

Signing off