A Day in a Life

Tuesday, March 26th,1940

This morning, around 5:00 I was awakened by the rooster. My siblings and I must get ready to
go work. I'm very tired in the mornings, sometimes not even wanting to get up. But I know if I
don't get up, there will be no money for food. Every day I walk 3 miles from home to go work in
Mr.Goods fields. Mr.Goods is a very harsh man. Sometimes when I am done working he tells
me I didn't do enough and only pays me a little. I'm grateful for whatever I can get even though
it's not what I deserve. As I was walking my 3 miles, I liked to distract myself by counting my
steps. Today I got a new record, 6410 steps. Since I'm not able to be in school I use this to
practice my numbers. Finally I arrive at the fields and Mr.Goods tells me what needs to be done.
Today I was told to help prepare the dirt for planting and to mend more fences. Cuts and blisters
remain from the fences I mended yesterday. There's no shovels for me, so I must get a shovel
almost twice my size. I do my best to move around the dirt. I feel the glares and smirks the older
men give me but I just keep doing my job. In the fields it's very quiet, all you hear is the sound of
metal scooping up dirt. Mr. Goods doesn’t like it when we talk. He says it's a distractment and
less work gets done. When no one is watching, I sometimes like to draw in the dirt with the nose
of the shovel. Even though I know only an hour has passed it feels more like years. My back
begins to ache and my arms feel numb. I push myself to keep going. I know if I'm caught
slacking, Mr.Goods won’t pay me as much. The men and I finally finish preparing the dirt.
Mr.Goods knows I'm not consistent when planting so he makes me mend fences. Today, as I
was mending a fence near Mr.Goods home, I heard him and another man talking about some
type of laws that protect kids from working. I laughed to myself wondering if this was true.
Mr.Goods catches me staring, “Get to work!” he screams. That is not the first time I've heard
that. Each day Mr.Goods screams out to let us know its 1:30. He does this to let us know we
have half an hour to finish our work. The half hour passes and I am not finished mending. We all
go see Mr.Goods for our pay of the day. Because I'm much younger than all the men, I get a lot
less money. Mr.Goods knows I didn't finish my work but still with a mean voice he asks if I
completed my task in front of all the men so that they too make fun of me. One day I lied and
said I did finish but then Mr.Goods punished me by making me work more hours and not paying
me for 3 days. So from then on I make sure I tell the truth. I know that if I'm honest, the
punishment will just be less money for the day. When I arrive at home after my hour walk, my
siblings and I give mother our money from that day. Some days mother is sad because what
was made was not enough. But in the end we work with what we have. Mother always reminds
us that each new day we wake up is another day filled with opportunities. I love my mom, I look
up to her. Even though she cant fully provide for us she is a great team player. And thats what
its about.