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Search MessagesForum Identity: Dave Jensen   Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:12 AM
affiliation/organization: CareerTrax

The votes from our forum advisers and the staff at AAAS are back in this morning, and they all tell me that it was a tough decision because so many GREAT entries were had. Thank you so much to all who took the time to provide their excellent career advice in this contest, and Congratulations to forum poster Ken for his winning entry, which is repeated below. Ken's entry mixes humor, career advice, and excellent use of the "Western" nature of the original piece of Cowboy Wisdom. Thank you to all -- and to Ken, please get me an address to send your books. NICE JOB ALL.

You're welcome to post any comments about Ken's advice here, in this thread.
Dave

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"Never ask a barber if he thinks you need a haircut."

Well, lemme tell y'all about a low point in my life as young gene wrangler. I mean, it was lower than a caterpillar's belly. I took to feelin’ like I been rode hard and hung up wet. I looked around my little old laboratory and I begin to wonderin’ if there ain’t somethin’ else out there. My wonderin’ turn to thinkin’ and my thinkin’ got me talkin’ about looking outside of this here little fenced in patch of dirt.

The head of the laboratory, a lifelong cowpoke, gets to hearin’ me and he pulls me aside one day, and he says, “Why don’t you saddle up beside me, hoss. We’re gonna have ourselves a little talk.”

Well, he ain’t never taken much interest in my wonderin’s before, so I say, “Well, that would be mighty fine!”

He sits me down and he points his finger far outside the fences of our little laboratory to a spot out there on the horizon and he says, “Beautiful, ain’t she?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I been wonderin’ what’s out there. You reckon there ain’t other jobs out there for a guy what been wranglin’ up genes for near ten turns of the seasons? I mean, there ain’t been no job openin’ up to run my own herd ‘round these parts. A man gets to thinkin’ if maybe there ain’t somethin’ else he’s suited to.”

Well, his face got more serious than a junebug in a glass of sasparilla, and he says to me, “Hoss, there ain’t nothin’ out there for you. Them other ranches are institutionalized. Alls they care about is profits and losses. Young ranch hand like you would be eaten up and used. I reckon you should get back to your bench now. You sit tight and keep on wranglin’. Somethin’ll come along very soon for you. Ain’t nothin’ outside these here fences.”

Well, I got back to my bench, but that there sunset, well, she kept callin’ to me. She was so bright from here. Seemed to me that the only one gettin’ anything out of all my wranglin’ at the bench was the old cowpoke who ran this outfit. Seemed impossible that there weren’t nothin’ out there. Maybe that old cowpoke don’t know what he’s talkin’ about. Maybe he does know what he’s talkin’ about, and he just want to make sure that this ranch hand keeps this outfit wranglin’.

So, one day, I waited till the boss' back was turned, and I headed out to that horizon. I swear she never got no closer nomatter how far I went and there's stories to be told about that journey and the mountains what had to be climbed, but damn if one day I didn’t happen to find myself in a new ranch.

Life in this ranch was much different. Yeah, this ranch had her eyes set on turnin’ a profit, but I declare that this weren’t a bad thing! Seemed to me, the wranglin' was much the same as I had known before. But, I swear I saw equipment I ain’t never seen before. Sure made my gene wranglin’ much faster. Damn if I couldn’t wrangle up some things that I never thought could be done before. I also got myself an outfit of ranch hands who all pitch in to get the wranglin’ done faster than a long tailed cat in room full of rockin’ chairs. And, I can’t be for sure, but it do seem that the bosses of this here ranch want to make sure that when I bunk down for the night, that my head is a’layin’ a bit more comfortable so’s I’m rested up for the next day’s gene wranglin’.

I guess what I’m a’tryin’ to say is, askin’ a cowpoke who ain’t never been off the ranch if you should look at other opportunities outside them fences is like askin’ a barber if you need a haircut.

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