To Leaf Hanging

     First, there was the pulling. Delicate little plants, glistening with the cool dew of the early morning spring air, ready to be gently plucked from their beds. At this stage, the uninitiated would be forgiven for believing that the ensuing labor would be performed with that same sense of gentleness. But they would be wrong. For anyone that has ever experienced the farming of tobacco, they know all too well the torturous hours upon hours of hard labor to come.The planting of those delicate plants? Your first hint at the battle to come, involved the assistance of a machine that could wrench the fingers from your hand and just as easily place it fingernail up in the soil as it would one of those delicate plants. Then came the blisters from working a hoe all day to rid the field of weeds. Not to worry, torn blisters heal faster with thick sticky juices that build up from ripping the flowers from the top of the plant: “topping.”

     From there, the ensuing chore names in the farming of tobacco alluded to the escalating filthiness of the work. Chopping and stacking. Then spearing. Finally, the months-long trial that you have endured reaches your sentencing: the hanging. All of it filthy. All of it difficult. All of it worth it to a boy that was enduring the torture to earn money to attend the Vernon County Fair.

     Times have changed. Most kids today will never need to endure that kind of physical labor in order to earn money to go to the fair. And, to be fair, most kids in those days didn’t need to either, but it gave my brother and me a sense of purpose and self-worth. I know that this is starting to sound like I’m going to rant about how kids these days have it easy, but nothing could be further from the truth. I believe that kids have it no better than you or I did; they have it no worse.

     The world that children are growing up in today has its own set of trials and tribulations that we could never understand because we weren’t born into that world. Their present is filled with all of the wonders that were once only promises of the future to us. With those wonders, come the ills that we as adults need not worry about. The ability to contact anyone with touch of a button or the click of a mouse, allows bullies to find you no matter where you hide. The same rapidly evolving technology that grants us adults the tools to move forward with today, denies the youth that have fallen behind a tomorrow. Our future—their future—is a world that will depend heavily upon great minds. Wouldn’t you want a flying car? A vacation on the moon or Mars? Travel to the stars? It is the kids of today that will make that happen. We need to do all that we can to provide the tools they need to make that future of promises a reality to their children. The future starts with you and me, right now.