We now have a new “Kid” who’s helping on the farm. My hope is that this one sticks, and that his competence is such that I can reduce the frequency with which I feel compelled to mutter, “Oh, good lord!” (That one whom I reference was eventually sent packing for failing to do more than stick his toe in the ground and look bored.)

This most recent Kid has been coming here for a couple of months. He’s a “yes, sir,” hard-working lad who, so far, has arrived on time every Saturday morning. Teaching him the rhythms of the day, showing him where tools are located, trying to keep him busy — all, to be frank, threaten to wear me out. And, though far from his Oh, good lord! predecessor, he does bring to the job his own set of challenges.

Let us consider the wheelbarrow: For a couple of hours yesterday, I observed as the Kid moved wheelbarrow loads of chicken manure to a compost pile while cleaning out the coop. Each time, when he was ready to move a full load, he would position himself between the wheelbarrow’s handles, his back to the barrow, and set off like a workhorse pulling a dray. Of course, in that position it is harder to control the balance, and he managed to turn it over once or twice each trip before I finally intervened.

I’m always torn, when watching someone do something wrong, or at the very least inefficiently, between correcting them or letting them get on with it. In this case, it was such an odd way to use a wheelbarrow — the pulling instead of pushing — that I assumed it was just a peculiar personal preference. Eventually, though, I approached him and said, “I’m sure you know that a wheelbarrow is typically pushed,” showing him how. His response was, simply, that he didn’t know. Sixteen years old and he’d never had the occasion to use one.

We went though similar interactions over how to use a pitchfork (not that unusual) and a shovel (unusual). The Kid’s efforts at hoeing were as close to being ineffective as they get without being totally useless.

In other words, he had little to no familiarity with using the most common of tools. How a boy can get this close to being a man and still not know how to use a wheelbarrow or shovel is beyond me. Mind you, it is not an indictment of him specifically, and it is to his credit that he continues to endure a crash remedial course each Saturday.

It does, though, seem more than a bit curious about this culture. Are we so awash in luxury that the basic elements of manual labor are now an alien technology, using a shovel now as complex as a slide rule? If so, it does trigger my concern, once again, about where we are going.

………………………………………………………………

Note to readers: I will be taking a sabbatical for the remainder of the month. When I return in May it will be on a different schedule. I’m still not sure how often I will post, whether once a month or twice, it still remains to be seen.

Reading this weekend: Eggs, Beans and Crumpets (Wodehouse).