I was finally able to get my buddy Don Chaffee out for a few days on the north end of Lake Champlain this week. With a few “light and variable” days in the forecast this week I hit him up and invited him to join me up in South Hero for a couple days chasing smallmouth. Don was originally going to fish with me a couple months earlier, but as luck would have it, he had to take raincheck.
Don had been assaulted at work injuring his back in the process.
Now I know what you’re probably thinking – “Who gets assaulted at work?” Well, Don is employed at a well-known institution in southern Vermont known for working/dealing with people who are mentally ill. In fact, Don doesn’t even work with adults – at least not regularly. He works with a younger population. I am familiar with his chosen profession having done it myself. It’s how Don and I got to know each other and become friends. Don was actually one of the many employees who made my time there tolerable.
After checking in with him, I invited him to join me at The Anchorage in South Hero this week. I wanted to make sure he was still interested in hitting the water and that his back could hold out for the three-hour drive he’d have to make to meet me – as well as stand for a few hours working some “swing lube” in to his back and shoulders while on the boat.
I make NO APOLOGIES for my following opinion from the soapbox.
There is a severe lack of people who are willing to take care of those who need help. Nurses, doctors, social workers, law enforcement officers – you name it, there is a demand in EVERY human service capacity. Well, maybe except for politicians. And, what is most problematic in this field of employment is that those who choose it as their occupation and livelihood often forget the most important part of it – self care. They’re so busy taking care of everyone else, solving the problems of others that they forget to take care of themselves. We’ve all been witness to the staffing shortages throughout all areas of employment, but it’s not even close to what our human service employees have had to deal with. Any argument or debate to the contrary will fall upon my deaf ears. It took a pandemic to bring it to the living rooms of America and the world. I have heard stories of 60, 70, 80-hour or more workweeks. Burnout is at an all-time high. Depression amongst healthcare workers is through the roof. I fully understand the reasons why people “self-medicate”…or worse. It’s incredibly sobering, especially if you’re an empathetic and altruistic sort of person.
Don is that sort of person. In fact, nearly every fellow employee who we work(ed) with is that sort of person.
We spent the better part of the next two days on the water. We crushed a few beers. We caught a few fish – some really good ones as well. We watched Monday Night Football and a little baseball in the main lodge. It was peaceful, quiet and just what he needed – at least so I think.
As I was driving home I couldn’t help but think of how many other people need some time for themselves. It doesn’t have to be fishing either. Whether it’s to get in their heads or to get out of it, people need to spend a little more time doing what they want to do and start listening to their own needs. And so many people who work in human service need that time even more. Much more.
Don’s job is not easy. He’s not lugging bricks, or digging trenches and what he does is almost always done “out of sight” of the public eye – which means that the public doesn’t ever think about it. The same can be said of everyone else who works as direct care staff in the health sector.
I am aware that there is not a whole lot of “fishing related” information here. I’ve also never been accused of having a weak or subdued personality. It was important to me to get Don out. It was important FOR me to get him out. There’s just not enough time in anyone’s life to forget that. You can’t help anyone by offering a drink from a near empty cup – you only create a deficit for yourself.