25 July 2008

Brave

"Being brave doesn't mean you don't have fears. It just means that you are stupid enough not to give into your fears."
~My Uncle Leon who wasn't really my uncle
"I don't want you to be helpless nor hapless"
~ My Dad, Grady, who wasn't really my Dad
There is something thrilling about driving a forklift. Driving it is like saying to my brothers, "you see, I am not really this dainty, weak young woman!" Or to my mother, "I am as adventures as you, as capable as you!" Or to my co-workers, "You think I'm amazing, you haven't seen anything yet!" Driving a forklift is fun because it is very three dimension. In a warehouse such as Universal Hardware's you have to be careful of things in front, on the side, and above you.
When driving a forklift sometimes you have to go up high to shelves to get items for customers. Some one, probably a man, was smart enough to put many often sought after items high on the shelves. Most of the times, the more popular the item, the heavier and higher it is.
I find it amazing that my brain does something to my body when I am at the highest shelf. No matter how high I am, the last shelf does tricks on me. My knees go weak, my breathe shallow, my head spins, my heart races and my blood sugar sinks. I am fine when I rummage through shelves at equal heights as long as they are not the top shelf. Since the warehouse has been added on to and one side of it has a higher ceiling, the shelves also go higher and I have tested this phenomenon and found it true. The top shelf is not for the faint at heart. It is not easily contended with. But I am brave at heart. I have and I will continue to beat the top shelf.

5 comments:

coolingstar9 said...

Wendy,
Driving forlift is not easy. It really requires sharp mind. We need to open our eyes to look around, we need to open our ear to hear anything coming towards us.
It needs us to be alert not to injure people.
I enjoy reading your post, have a nice day, best wishes from coolingstar9

Helbaby said...

Now that sounds so scary when you describe it like that. I drove our forklift once, but not in your type of setting. This was outside in the open air under the hot sun(moving concrete piles from the mold to the stock yard) It was intense because of the weight but not as intense as driving the freight liner which was fun enough moving forward (not a pretty picture when you forget what gear your in) definitely panty-chewing. Reversing into the lane was fun though and not as hard as I thought it would have been once I got it in my head that opposite is the key. I just did it to see if I could and I'm glad to say that I can.
Good for you Beth! I'm thrilled that you've got it in you to show em that being a girl doesn't mean you don't have heart and guts.

Helbaby said...

pls ignore the stupid spelling and grammatical errors

Beth said...

It is only a temporary summer job to help me out of a hard time, Leal, as far as I know there will be an empty post as of August 16th. check it out here: http://www.universalhardware.bz/

Helbaby, you must have driven those big ol' ones! Universal has two small electric forklifts and one gas power one. the gas powered one is drama! So manu levers, so many paddles! OI!

Coolingstar, I promise, I will be careful.

Anonymous said...

I have never driven a forklift, but would love to drive one!