I think too many people are spoiled and selfish and that they're too selfish and spoiled to know just how selfish and spoiled they really are. I should note I'm not omitting myself here. I know I too am guilty of falling into this label at times. While watching a movie at our Hulk's Christmas Movie Party, I noted that the TV screen was too sharp -- it showed every single detail. "Oh the problems of a first world nation", my friend beside me joked. He was being sarcastic but what he said was true too. We have so much to be thankful for. We are all so blessed.
For the past couple of months I have been saving all the cheon won bills ($1) that I have been getting back in change when I pay for things. I had hid them away in my sock drawer and was saving them up so that I could treat Snickers to a special Christmas dinner out. But the other day, when I looked at our dry food drive box at Hulk's and saw how sadly empty it was, I told him I wanted to spend my saved bills on filling it up. I write this here not for any kind of special recognition or for props but because it was a reality check for me. Here I was, groaning about spending my saved money on food for a house full of kids I've never met when the reality of the fact is this little amount of money and time spent shopping for them is really so small. Who cares if I really go out for dinner on Christmas, really. It's just one meal. These kids have no parents and yet I'm complaining about a TV that is so high tech it shows every detail and am whining about not being able to go out for a Christmas meal with my family. Felt pretty selfish and spoiled hearing myself complaining about such "first world problems" considering.
Recently we've been looking to hire someone to join our Hulk's team because we're letting our Crossfit trainer go. We haven't placed an official ad yet and are hesitant to do so because we'd love to hire someone we know -- someone who knows first hand just how important Hulk's is to Snickers and I. Hulk's is our baby and I know it'll be next to impossible to hire someone who is remotely as dedicated to it as we are but we'd like to at least hire someone who has some kind of understanding of this. If we had to place an ad and lay out the requirements, it'd probably include the following:
WANTED: part time boxing trainer
-- preferably Korean
-- must be a tall, larger/stronger build Korean male
-- must speak Korean, English would be an added bonus but is not required
-- must have boxing experience because their duties will mainly be doing padwork and teaching boxing
-- must participate in our monthly challenges and attend at least every other club social
One of the things we're running into a Hulk's is that I am limited with who I can do padwork with because of my height and size. I'm only 157cm (5ft 2") and 55kgs, so doing padwork with some of the taller and bigger guys is quite damaging to my shoulders and painful for me to do so. Everyone always wants to hit the pads during padwork as hard as they can when really it's suppose to be a time of technical work. The sandbags are where you're suppose to use your power. There's only one member that is much larger than me that I have made an exception to our rule and it's simply because I've been training him since day one. Even with him though, I try to steer away from too many hooks during padwork.
Snickers wants to hire his so-called twin but I'd love to hire Panty Boy Jr. I still don't think we can afford anyone beyond part time but finding someone willing to work part time is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. As for Panty Boy Jr., the boxing status and experience he has is undeniably impressive. I actually prefer his bad boy attitude and would like him to be a bit more tough on our members than perhaps others would be. Hulk's has earned a kind of bad boy reputation within the boxing community and I quite like that. Snickers bears his own bad boy status in the boxing community with his career starting off while doing hard time, and I developed a kind of bad girl image when I pushed Snickers' to fire his former coach then publicly told him off and refused to hand over money to buy out the rest of Snickers' contract. We were once labelled the "Danger Couple of Cheonan" by a reporter and ironically enough we've filled in this label more than we expected and we are proud of it.
Another potential employee has recently entered the scene. When Snickers first told me about him I wasn't interested and wouldn't even consider hiring him but then, as more of his story was told to me, I became more and more interested in him. I've never met him but have learned so much about him and what I've learnt I'm sure would shock most. His story raises so many yellow flags and now I know why he's struggling to find a job but I think it's all these yellow flags that make me really interested in hiring him. I'm hoping to meet him this weekend or early next week.
We all have so much to be thankful for, we are so blessed, and I think that we really need to have some common sense and compassion kicked into us all from time to time. I'm not rolling in the cash like many may think I am, instead I'm rolling in the bills like no one can imagine, but I am blessed. I am blessed to be doing something I love. I am blessed just to even have a job. I am blessed to have a family back in Canada, friends around the world, a warm roof over my head, and a husband who cares about me. This guy -- the guy that I'm thinking about maybe hiring -- doesn't even have the basics that most of us have. His family orphaned him when he was young so he's got no family, the roof over his head isn't his, and he's got no job because of having just finished doing hard time. He lost a good chunk of his youth because of a mistake he made nine years ago and he'll continue having to pay the price for it unless he gets some kind of break.
There are many people I could hire and many friends who want me to consider them for the job but I am most curious about this guy. He's someone that I probably would have never considered if I hadn't met Snickers but he's probably the one person I think would appreciate the job offer most and deserves it the most. Don't get me wrong, the job isn't so great, it's quite physically draining and I'm sure other club's would pay more, but I don't want to hire just some buff dude who could probably walk into any fitness club and land the job. I want someone who'll see this job as more than just a job. I want someone who'll be an active part of our team and not just a paycheck at the end of the month for me to dish out. If we decide to hire this particular individual, it may mean we'll also be housing him. We have an extra spare room in our apartment that's quite large so that's one option. The other option would be to turn the room behind the juice bar at Hulk's into a bedroom. Hiring him means taking on more responsibilities beyond that of our employer-employee relationship.
I think everyone deserves a second chance and I much rather give one to this guy, someone who deserves a break. Snickers had his and look at what he's done with it -- he became Korea's Super Light Champion and then created the biggest boxing club in Korea. He's got such an amazing Cinderella story so maybe it's only fitting that we offer this guy his second chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment