The Life Of Grownups

David Andrew officially began his new job today. I say "officially" because he has been going to trainings and doing shadowing for a while now. Today is his first day solo - working in a group home here in Canton.

His first day on his own and a twelve hour shift - 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

Unfortunately, David was up in the night with an upset stomach. When he got up in the morning he was sick to his stomach some more. But he didn't seem to have a fever... just trouble with his stomach. "Maybe it is from the late dinner of chili after caroling last night," we thought.

He went to work. He checked in with us later in the morning. He had been sick some more.

But he stayed at work.

Later in the day, I called him to see how he was doing. He was still sick to his stomach and the thought of cooking dinner for the men in the house was unsettling.

But he stayed at work.

I'm proud of David. He is showing that he has what it takes to be an adult with adult responsibilities. Schoolchildren can usually stay home from school if they feel sick. Teachers and classmates would just as soon they did, if it is messy or possibly contagious. The main consequence will be to get behind on homework.

But grownups have more responsibility. The consequences of staying home are more significant. David went to work and stuck it out for the guys he serves in the group home, for his employer who entrusted this responsibility to him and for the people who would have needed to change plans to cover for him.

David has begun to prove to his new employer that he is trustworthy and reliable. He will be there when he is supposed to be there and will not let even significant personal discomfort derail him. They can depend on him. He knows he has an important job to do - that people are counting on him.

I'm not surprised, by this. I already knew what kind of guy he was growing up to be. But it certainly makes me happy to see him put the exclamation point on it.