On Reponsibility

Yesterday i was working at a brother's remodeling project. We had to replace a balcony for a second-story apartment building.

Now, i have worked with a couple of different contractors and each one has a different level of trust in my abilities so he entrusts me with a job that he thinks i can do well. Me being a young man and not experienced, i usually got small jobs like carrying lumber from the truck to the house or finish hammering the nails in a brace (metal joint for beams).

This time, (due to his trust or maybe negligence) i was entrusted with decking the balcony (cover the beams with planks for the floor).

The small jobs don't require much skill but decking does.


And here is my point. When i got small errands, i did them as a servant. "Go do this, do that" "Yes sir". But when given more responsibility, i actually thought a bit, measured, calculated, carefully cut, and patiently screwed in all the planks, and double checked each screw.

I was more responsible because i was given more responsibility (obviously not more than i could handle).

Thats why i believe kids should be given more responsibilities as they get older. Acceptance of responsibility i what maturity really is.