a snippet of my life.

[smithers joe]

i was running both a janitor company and a chimney cleaning business but still felt unfulfilled. one day i made an appointment to interview for a job working with developmentally challenged adults. my appointment was at one o’clock but as my way i was early. it was lunch hour and these adults were out in the field. someone was hitting fly balls to them. i grabbed my glove from my car and asked them if i could join them. i was a pretty good player and had no trouble catching and throwing the ball. they asked me if i played in the majors. no i said but i’m the president of minor baseball in smithers. they gathered around me and hung on every word i said. i didn’t know at the time, but the administrater’s office looked over the field and he watched the happening intently. i guess he was impressed because he told me that they had already decided on who they would hire but changed their minds and hired me instead. i think he saw both my interest and how the adults seem to hang on my every word. 

it is what is inside your heart, i’m sure.

[Coconuts]

That's a pretty neat story Joe, it's funny how whimsical decisions like that can have a lasting impact on one's life. 

 

On the other hand, this was a ten hour snippet of my life. Ten straight hours of What is Love, I have no regrets. 

 

 

[YEGCanuck]

Thanks for sharing this snippet Joe. It sounds like those adults were fortunate to have you work with them. You have been blessed with a big heart.

[Sharpshooter]

29 minutes ago, smithers joe said:

i was running both a janitor company and a chimney cleaning business but still felt unfulfilled. one day i made an appointment to interview for a job working with developmentally challenged adults. my appointment was at one o’clock but as my way i was early. it was lunch hour and these adults were out in the field. someone was hitting fly balls to them. i grabbed my glove from my car and asked them if i could join them. i was a pretty good player and had no trouble catching and throwing the ball. they asked me if i played in the majors. no i said but i’m the president of minor baseball in smithers. they gathered around me and hung on every word i said. i didn’t know at the time, but the administrater’s office looked over the field and he watched the happening intently. i guess he was impressed because he told me that they had already decided on who they would hire but changed their minds and hired me instead. i think he saw both my interest and how the adults seem to hang on my every word. 

it is what is inside your heart, i’m sure.

So you robbed someone out of a job while having two already??

 

 

 

 

 

JK’ing Joe! Great story. Seems like a snippet from an era long ago that we may not hear of as much nowadays. 

[Gurn]

1 hour ago, Coconuts said:

That's a pretty neat story Joe, it's funny how whimsical decisions like that can have a lasting impact on one's life. 

 

On the other hand, this was a ten hour snippet of my life. Ten straight hours of What is Love, I have no regrets. 

 

 

I will never be the same, as I was, before seeing this. 

[Coconuts]

21 minutes ago, gurn said:

I will never be the same, as I was, before seeing this. 

I'm almost an hour and a half into this again

 

Send help 

[Roger Neilsons Towel]

12 minutes ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

You know, @smithers joe - you're doing this all wrong.  CDC won't pay you royalties for publishing your memoirs here.

 

 

 

 

(thanks for sharing)

I’d throw into the pot to read some more of Joe’s stories. 

[smithers joe]

5 hours ago, Roger Neilsons Towel said:

I’d throw into the pot to read some more of Joe’s stories. 

no thanks, i just like writing stories about life. in the 80’s i wrote a sports/human interest column in our local paper. no pay, just to write what was going around in my head. strangely enough, some people really enjoyed my column weekly and even told me so. just a kid from vancouver. 

[smithers joe]

6 hours ago, gurn said:

I will never be the same, as I was, before seeing this. 

well, at least you know what love is now.

[smithers joe]

9 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

So you robbed someone out of a job while having two already??

 

 

 

 

 

JK’ing Joe! Great story. Seems like a snippet from an era long ago that we may not hear of as much nowadays. 

i guess i did but i ended up selling my janitor business to my brother in law.  i eventually sold my chimney cleaning business too. i believe i was always meant to work, helping others. i went from coaching baseball, my passion, to writing stories, to working with challenged people, to working with young offenders. not to toot my own horn but i think i was good at all those jobs.  for several years, some of the young offenders would come back to smithers and look me up and say hi.

the fellow who they were going to hire, was a native fellow i knew. i had finally found my niche in life. 

[Boudrias]

Great stories Joe. I managed my son teams thru minor hockey and loved the experience. Arranging ice times, making sure players got to those 6 am practices and making sure they had enough tourny play. One memorable experience was in Invermere when the boys were really getting drubbed. The coach was so upset that he sent me into the room between periods because he thought he might lose it. I walk into the dressing room and here is one of our players with a candle burning with most of the players huddled around humming some kind of incantation. I thought it was a joke but the faces were serious. Walked out of the room barely able to stop the laughter. Coach was mystified. 

 

Those boys played together from Atoms thru to Midget. Went to 3 Provincial Championships. They were like a big family to me. Most of them attended each others weddings. At one wedding one of the boys came up and asked me if I still had my vest that I had my company's logo on. Years ago he had asked me if he could have that vest if I ever quit using it. I found it a touching experience as I gave him my vest all those years later. I had tried so hard to have this boy succeed as he had incredible hockey talent. He never did achieve that but his memory of the vest and the great times the team had obviously meant something and stayed with him. He became a ambulance medic and loves his job.   

[smithers joe]

i had many stories about coaching baseball and hockey but my favourite season was when i left coaching in newton to coach in north delta where i lived. i left 2 champion winning years to my favourite one, i remember they had try outs and a draft. i couldn’t be there for either. i asked the president to pick a team for me. they must have forgot because of the  team i got only one boy that had played any ball. for a third of the season, we were getting beat badly every game. then there was a period when we lost but by big scores. finally the boys started to win. we beat every team in the 6 team league. we ended up 4th out of 6 teams. i was so proud of those boys. i always believed that baseball taught them about life as much as about the game. the following year i inherited another team of older boys and we blew everyone away. 

Edited November 12, 2020 by smithers joe

[canuckster19]

If it hadn't been for Ol' Smithers Joe, I'd be an employed man a long time ago.

[smithers joe]

1 hour ago, canuckster19 said:

If it hadn't been for Ol' Smithers Joe, I'd be an employed man a long time ago.

elaborate lad. how did i hinder you? my appologies anyway. did i take your job too?

Edited November 12, 2020 by smithers joe

[canuckster19]

11 minutes ago, smithers joe said:

elaborate lad. how did i hinder you? my appologies anyway. did i take your job too?

It's just a play on words from the song Cotton Eyed Joe, it was meant to be funny, not serious.

[smithers joe]

47 minutes ago, canuckster19 said:

It's just a play on words from the song Cotton Eyed Joe, it was meant to be funny, not serious.

what does cotton eyed mean. was it about an slave gathering cotton? that would have been back breaking work. it reminds me of stompin tom’s song about a summer gathering tobacco leaves in tillsonberg.  he says my back still aches when i hear those words.

Edited November 12, 2020 by smithers joe

[Bill Sikes]

10 hours ago, smithers joe said:

no thanks, i just like writing stories about life. in the 80’s i wrote a sports/human interest column in our local paper. no pay, just to write what was going around in my head. strangely enough, some people really enjoyed my column weekly and even told me so. just a kid from vancouver. 

If I did that I'd give Stephen King a run for his money

[Canucks Curse]

19 hours ago, smithers joe said:

i was running both a janitor company and a chimney cleaning business but still felt unfulfilled. one day i made an appointment to interview for a job working with developmentally challenged adults. my appointment was at one o’clock but as my way i was early. it was lunch hour and these adults were out in the field. someone was hitting fly balls to them. i grabbed my glove from my car and asked them if i could join them. i was a pretty good player and had no trouble catching and throwing the ball. they asked me if i played in the majors. no i said but i’m the president of minor baseball in smithers. they gathered around me and hung on every word i said. i didn’t know at the time, but the administrater’s office looked over the field and he watched the happening intently. i guess he was impressed because he told me that they had already decided on who they would hire but changed their minds and hired me instead. i think he saw both my interest and how the adults seem to hang on my every word. 

it is what is inside your heart, i’m sure.

loved that vignette Joe. Thanks for sharing.