The Graveyard Shift

by Greg McClanahan

The character trait of 'Generosity' claims our attention during the Christmas holiday season. Today's message teaches us that quiet generosity can be found in the most unlikely places. As you read, I encourage you to think of the quiet ways you can make a difference in the lives of your family, colleagues, customers and those you see who are in need.

The 'Big Wheel'

In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone.

The boys ranged from three months to seven years and their sister was two. If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it.

I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress, loaded them into my rusty old 1951 Chevy and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town.

No luck.

The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whoever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job.

Still no luck.

The last place we went to just a few miles out of town was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted into a truck stop. It was called the 'Big Wheel.'

An older lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time-to-time at all those kids.

She needed someone on the graveyard shift, eleven at night until seven in the morning. She paid sixty-five cents an hour, and I could start that night.

I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep. This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal.

That night, I started at the Big Wheel.

When I got home in the mornings, I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money - fully half of what I averaged every night.

As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home.

One bleak fall morning after work, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires!

There was no note, no nothing; just those beautiful brand new tires. Had angels taken up residence in Indiana? I wondered.

I made a deal with the local service station. In exchange for mounting the tires, I would clean his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to install the tires.

I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids.

I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning.

Clothes were a worry, too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys' pants, and soon they would be too far gone to repair.

On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. There were the truckers - Les, Frank, and Jim, and a State Trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine.

The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up.

When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning, to my amazement, my old battered Chevy was filled full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes.

I quickly opened the driver's side door, crawled inside and knelt in the front, facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was a whole case of little bluejeans, sizes 2-10!

I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans.

Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes. There was candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was a whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items.

And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll.

As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.

Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop. (Unknown Author)

Sir Winston Churchill said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

Living a life of greatness includes a life of generosity and kindness. Often times, your greatness is shown in an obscure location, like outside of town at the Big Wheel and when no one is even watching.

George W. Young said, "The greatness of a man or woman can nearly always be measured by their willingness to be kind."

You don't have to spend money to live a life of giving. Be generous with kind words and actions. Give a compliment to a family member, friend, colleague, customer, the wait staff at a restaurant, a cashier at the grocery store or a complete stranger. It is guaranteed that a pleasant greeting or expression of appreciation can lift someone's day.

When possible, give of your resources, but giving of yourself can be the most generous act of kindness.

P.S. It's also good for business. Generosity is a foundational component to the Law of Attraction. ##

Greg McClanahan is the President and founder of Mastery Link International - home of the 'Around the Campfire' and 'Something to Think About' Programs. Mastery Link is driven to provide personal and organizational development programs that focus on mastering the character traits that lead to personal and professional excellence. Greg has worked in the factory-built housing industry for 17 years and currently owns Lifestyle Homes of the Southwest in Durango, CO. To engage your organization in an affordable, curriculum based, on-line development program, contact Greg at 180 Valle Escondido Drive Durango, CO 81303, (970) 759-1767, or via e-mail at: masterylink.org.