I have very little patience with whiners. You know – those people who snivel or complain in a peevish, self-pitying way. In fact, a family mantra that we frequently repeat to our grandchildren is this: “Alexanders don’t whine!” It’s annoying when children whine; when adults whine, it’s a serious irritant.
On a trip to the Monterey/Carmel area of California, I visited one of Monterey’s best attractions – the city’s world-class aquarium. The aquarium houses not only a fantastic collection of aquatic life but also a small exhibit dedicated to the sardine industry that once made Monterey Bay the sardine capitol of the world. In the first two decades of the twentieth century, the canneries produced as many as 1,400,000 cases of sardines per year. (Who knew that many people ate sardines!)
While the men did the laborious job of fishing, it was the women who worked 12-16 hours a day preparing and canning the slippery, smelly catch. The grueling, daily drudgery of the cannery workers, as depicted in photographs and commentary in this display, is beyond the imagination of most of us. Next to a black and white photograph of rows of women working on an assembly line and up to their elbows in sardines are these words: “We dreaded getting up in the morning because we worked so hard. It was cold and wet with water running under our feet all day. Can you imagine squeezing the guts out of fish at three or four o’clock in the morning?”
Next time you start to whine or complain about your job, think about the cannery workers. On those days when everything that could possibly go wrong does, be thankful for the little things – like heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summer, dry feet, and the absence of fish guts. Think you’re tired at the end of the day? Consider the cannery workers. And if you think your job stinks, it can’t be nearly as stinky as a sardine factory. Chances are you’re not going to like everything about your job; few of us do. But compared to the alternatives, it’s probably not so bad after all.
Stop whining! It changes nothing and annoys everyone. Appreciate what you have…and make it a grateful day.
