Self-Made in America
HISTORY IS NOT IN THE PAST
Jack Fox
Orchard Park - NY
Anyone born and educated in the United States is familiar with the Civil War and Lincoln. History's portrayal of Abe is one of splitting logs and mending a nation, but the lessons of his personal battles and disappointments were too common to receive the attention of historians. More than a hundred years later, there still exist the self-made traditions of the working class. No less mundane today, the lot of the hands-on is meager. I have split wood for heat, fixed the tractor and studied for exams in the same day. My heritage was centered on labor, and academics had little relevancy.
I was the first in my family tree to attend higher education. My parents did not know the difference between a semester and a credit hour. Considering the all-important daily toil, one was either working or lazy. Sedentary behavior such as studying and reading was discouraged. It was nice to be an honor student... if it did not conflict with the chores. Much has not changed since the Lincoln years. During the frequent winter storms the glow of my lantern's mantle was little different than Lincoln's candle.
To pay for school I dug trees in the family landscaping business and cleared sites for developers. Between undergrad and law school I drove truck [vernacular]. During my law school years, I worked full time in an all-night parking garage and part-time in a law firm. I often slept in my car until the university doors opened, and then on the library floor until it was time to attend my first class.
Today, as an attorney with 20 years of experience. I have not freed a race but I have conquered a tradition of manual servitude. And, like Lincoln, I have witnessed the void that separates the many from the few.
Comments that readers have made about this submission:
Looks like just another mundane story of the eight million in the Naked City. Jack Fox
Jack Fox - Orchard Park, NY
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