Teamwork

Last week, my family and I went to the State Fair, in Sedalia. Normally I couldn't get my farming family to take a day off for such an outing, but the tickets came to us gratis from the bank who sponsors our farm. Who can resist such a deal? Not a cheapskate like me!

We drove 3 1/2 hours to the Fair, parked 1/2 mile from the gate, hiked in, only to find that our tickets were being held at a tent that the bank had set up out by where we were parked! We hiked a half mile back to the tent. They gave us our tickets as well as a free picnic lunch! I was really pleased with the pork chops, baked potato, beans, and ice cream. I passed on the rolls, even though they looked great. I was trying to save a few calories, but Dale took my roll as well as his, since he doesn't eat pork.

After lunch we caught a shuttle back to the gate and joined the throngs of fair-goers. Once inside, we split up; Dale and Nathaniel headed off to yet another tractor pull. I have already attended several this year so Lena and I, at the advice of a friendly woman that we met on the shuttle, decided to see the Fantastic Farmers competition which was held in an air conditioned arena. Okay, maybe the a/c was a deciding factor--but it turned out to be one of my better decisions.

The contestants were couples working together to perform some very entertaining "farming feats".
When we arrived they were actually working separately, the men competing against each other to see who could toss a bale of hay the highest, and the women competing to throw a bale the farthest, but their scores were still taken as a team. The winning man tossed his bale over 12 feet into the air! Needless to say, he had biceps the size of Christmas hams!

One of my favorite relays that they did was supposed to replicate all of the steps needed to hang a gate. They had to choose the tools they needed, take the tools and run out to a certain area of the arena where they were to dig a hole and set a fence post in the dirt. The post had to be buried to an indicated depth and had to stand up when they were through. Next, they had to hang a cattle gate onto some hinges that were already mounted onto the back of a truck. Finally they each had to hammer 5 nails into a board and then gather their tools and run "home".

The first contestants took all of the tools from the starting point out to where they were to dig. He took up a shovel and she took up a fence post spade. She soon found that it is difficult for two people to work together to dig a fence post hole! She ended up watching as her husband did the grunt work. When he was finished with the hole, she ran over and got the fence post and helped him set it. Together they made short work of the second task, hanging the gate. Then they began hammering their nails. Well, it goes without saying that the man got his nails driven first. He gathered the tools and ran home while she was still hammering away! Their time was about 2 m. 58 secs.

The second couple, having the advantage of watching the first ones, came up with a plan: After checking with the judges to see if it was permitted, they agreed to divide and conquer. When the starting bell rang, he grabbed only the shovel and ran to the place where he was to dig a hole, at the same time, she ran over and got the fence post and brought it to him. While he was digging the hole, she began her nail driving assignment and by the time he got the hole dug, she was back to help him set the post in the hole and tamp it down. Together they hung the gate, then he went to drive his nails and she went to pick up his discarded shovel and headed home with it. They managed to cut more than a minute off of the previous couple's time! That was brilliant teamwork. Of course, all of the couples after them utilized their plan and a couple even tried to, or did, improve on it. The final winning time was a mere 1 m. 13 secs.! Wouldn't we all love to get our chores done in that amount of time??? Of course we would, and the secret is: team work!

Look at the same concept from an intellectual point of view and it still holds true: we proved this at a ranch management class that we went to the week previous to the fair week. We were asked to complete a pop quiz separately and then to pool our answers and choose the best answers that our group had, then we graded ourselves individually and as a group and of course, our group score was considerably better than our individual scores.

I know this isn't news to any one, but it has been a good reminder to me since, true to the attitude that we Americans have prided ourselves on since 1776, I am very independent and have a hard time asking for help or advice (Especially from my husband) and I have yet to see the day when he would ask advice of me!

The Fantastic Farmers competition culminated with an extravagant relay race, but the contestants had, by that point, learned to think creatively, and work as a team. If the woman was not good at jumping fences, but excelled and crawling through culverts, her gallant husband would come along side and jump the fence for her! After all, the judge only said that "someone" needed to climb over the fence and "someone" needed to go through the culvert. Then together they stacked the hay, sometimes with the man tossing it over the gate to his wife, sometimes with them both hauling the hay over the gate and then stacking it. Together they rolled a 1600 lbs. round bale and finally went over the top of the 8 foot high bale. Usually this meant the man hoisted his wife up and then she hauled him up and over.

When the competition was over, I turned to my daughter and said, "Now that should be a prerequisite to any couple who is considering marriage!"

I don't think she took me too seriously, though, she just rolled her eyes!

I'm sending the suggestion to my friend who is a marriage councilor...