25 Pies and a Load of Casing

A Working Kind of Gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in Canada.

Many of us will mark this day on nights, on call, or a province away from our families. Gratitude does not have to wait for a dining room though.

I was recalling one year that I ordered 25+ pies and had them sent out to site with a truckload of casing. Same delivery. Pipe and dessert. We ate. We had hearts full of gratitude. We were still at work.

PS. That was a lot of pies!

That is the working kind of gratitude. It is not fancy. It is noticing what is here, even on location.

You can miss home, be fully engaged at work and mean it when you say you are thankful. All of this can sit in the same day. The work day does not cancel the holiday, even when it feels like you might be forgotten. It just changes the setting.

Gratitude on site looks small on purpose. Coffee that is fresh. Hot water for a warm shower. A crew that has your back. A hand who caught the mistake before it became something else. A better meal than just another camp kitchen. Five minutes to call your kids and see their faces on FaceTime.

It is not a drama or a show. It is attention to small details. What did not fall apart. Who showed up. What you still have while the job is asking a lot of you.

You do not need a long weekend to do that. You need a pause. Pies in the safety shack count. So does a text. So does eating standing up and still calling it a celebration.

If you are working through Thanksgiving, take the pause.

Then ask: who you would thank if they were standing there?

The hand who caught the mistake.

The spouse holding the house down.

The boss who always answers the phone.

Meghan, The Blue Collar Coach