December 3, 2007 | Mama Smith

backhoe loader operators wanted

Matthew and I have been toying with the idea of my return to the part-time work world for a few weeks now. No serious steps have been taken, but this evening as I was frequenting the want ads and perusing careerbuilders.com, I stumbled upon an ad for an experience backhoe loader operator. This is where I laughed outloud and caused Matthew to give me a questioning look.

Many of you may not be familiar with the backhoe loader, but any mother of a toddler boy should be quite chummy with the yellow digger or more specifically, Scoop, the backhoe loader and leader of the team for Bob the Builder. This was Brighton’s first true love from the 5 minute clip I would let him watch on YouTube. Before he even saw a full 30 minute show. He was head over heels for the yellow scooping truck. He remains his favorite character even after being introduced to the vast assortment of others.

His endless search for “backhoe loaders” whenever we were in the car caused Matthew and I to become obsessed with discovering them ourselves. Even when Brighton was not in the car, such as on a Friday date night. “Look, a backhoe loader!” Matthew would start to point out and we’d both excitedly look in the back seat…only to find Brighton’s car seat empty and feel awkwardly foolish.

Tonight, after sharing the ad with Matthew, he excitedly wrote out the following letter for me to send, hoping the company would respond, enabling a quite humorous blog entry to share with you all, since I’m not in to writing as much these days. Unfortunately, we realized the ad was for in “in-person application only”, no phone calls or emails allowed. I’m not quite courageous enough to take the following letter to this construction company in person, but it would have made a funny email inquiry…

To Whom It May Concern:

I am very interested in your Backhoe Loader position. I am curious as to what kind of qualification you are looking for in particular. My credentials are from the Bob the Builder, School of Industrial Equipment Training. I have been watching the Bob the Builder DVDs with my son Brighton for over six months now and I feel that if there is anything more to be learned about the BackHoe Loaders, then it really cannot be that useful. I know that they can carry anything if they just try hard enough and have a good team spirit.

I’m tired of full time mothering and would like to find something to augment my career as a mother. I believe that Bob and Wendy and the whole gang have taught me a great deal about building and working on a team. Anything which you feel might be specific to your own crew, I’m sure I could learn in time.

I look forward to getting a chance to work with your crew in the near future, where together we’ll be exclaiming, “Can we build it? YES WE CAN!”

Sincerely,

Amy the Builder
Avid Backhoe Loader Fan
Greenville, South Carolina

We spend our Sunday evenings very wisely. Can you tell. It’s now almost midnight. And we’re both headed downstairs to find something to eat…instead of climbing into our bed like we should. It’s nice to be the adults in the house who can do whatever we want.