The Southern View

I have been reading posts lately that have led me to conclude that almost everyone on this board (myself included) are getting seriously burned out. This is a common occurance this time of year as it is getting cold and everyone is forced to huddle indoors, when you add the woes of the stock market and extra expenses due to Xmas gifts and high oil prices this all adds up to one serious
pity party.

I was feeling pretty down last Friday when I drove home but immediately perked up when I saw a familiar vehicle parked near my driveway. It was a painters van belonging to a man who has painted my house along with many others in my area.

"Preston" is an interesting gentleman who looks like a thin Aaron Neville. The most striking thing about Preston is his smile, he truly has a smile that will light up an entire room. Preston has painted his entire life and his partner (Buddy) is his 30ish year old son who looks as if he is a young Preston and has that same winning smile. Preston has raised Buddy by himself and they have worked together all of Buddys life.

One thing about the area where I live, there are A LOT of retire people and if a handy man type of person happens to work on one house and is any good...he can count on being in the area for at least two years!

I first met Preston 6 years ago through a mutual friend, Preston gave a reasonable quote to paint my house. As he was painting it, my neighbors came over to inspect and they promptly asked for quotes.

What I love about Preston is he TRULY loves his work, when he preps a house he removes all of the old caulking and will recaulk everything and he will scrape the old paint off. If he finds bad wood he will repair it and just make the house like new.

Now, here is the funny part.

Preston NEVER STOPS TALKING!!!!!!

You can actually get tired being around the man because he has learned to breathe through his nose while talking and he goes on and on and on.

It is actually hilarious, I can recall Preston working on my house. He was painting a window with a rock steady hand that never dripped a drop of paint and never put any paint on the winow pane.

As he was painting he was lecturing Buddy the entire time.

Preston: Ok Buddy, I'm painting the window here and then I will get the other windows...do you remember the time we painted that house on the other side of town and that man tried to stop me from caulking? I told him Man, do you want me to do the job RIGHT or do you want me to do it your way and wind up having to come back to fix this mess? I don't like to do things halfway, that reminds me do you recall that time I had the van worked on and that fellow wanted to put used parts in it? I told him put the new parts in that thing man I don't want someones old used parts! It reminds me of that time...

During this entire dialogue, Buddy continues to work on his side of the room in silence with a grin on his face, he has listened to his fathers voice his entire life and this is perfectly normal to him. I have often imagined Buddy could walk through the Wall Street Trading Floor and would not be affected by all the voices because he has worked with Preston.

The funny thing is, you can't help but like the man. While he was working at my place, the dogs followed him everywhere while he talked to them.

Preston: "Oh you two are GOOD dogs, I like dogs! You two waiting to see if I'm gonna give you something to eat aren't you? Well I only got sandwiches for me and Buddy but maybe I'll bring something tommorrow! You two remind me of...(long 15 minute speech)".

Back to Friday.

So I stopped my car and sure enough I heard a familiar voice across the street yell "Hello Mr. [SP]!" Sure enough there was Preston and Buddy scraping down a neighbors house. I walked over and they stopped to wipe their hands and came over to greet me and shake my hand.

"Isn't this a fine fine day!" Preston boomed and then began a long conversation about how happy he was to be working again and how he loved his job. When he finally paused Buddy jumped in and said "Mr. [SP], did you know my dad got real hurt over the summer?"

While my head was still spinning, I replied I had not heard that. Buddy proceeded to tell me they were working on a house with high ceilings and his dad had fallen off of a ladder onto some paint cans.

I must admit, I had a mental image of Preston falling while continuing to talk: "Now Buddy, you see that I am falling here while I am still holding onto my paint brush. I am going to land on those paint cans down there and it is going to hurt! You know, I don't like using Sherwin Wiliams paint...I prefer Benjamin Moore because the paint cans are softer! WHOOM! Oh buddy, this really hurts! You know, this reminds me of the time when I wrecked my car when I was 20 years old..."

I snapped myself out of my musing when Preston jumped in and told me about his fall. During his story, he told me one thing that really stuck out, he told me how he was hurting after the accident but decided he could just sit there and feel sorry for himself or just get up and keep working because he wasn't dead yet and still had houses to paint! He said "Man, I LOVE my job and enjoy getting out and meeting people!"

After spending 1/2 an hour with Preston, I left with my head spinning but with a big grin on my face and a much better attitude. Preston is right, none of us are dead yet and we still have work to do. The difference between being miserable or happy depends upon our attitude and that is something we can control and should not let others influence how we feel about ourselves.

Thanks Preston.