[April 11, 2024] In the early 1960s, the American economy was not doing as well as one might believe. Things were tough; the baby boomer generation was everywhere, and although jobs were plentiful, they paid almost nothing. For a kid looking to earn some money, forget it. We had to compete with adults looking for work, and potential employers would readily hire a grown man over a kid looking for part-time work, and if they did hire one of us kids, they paid us only a fraction of what an adult would receive.
So, my friends and I had to put our heads together and devise a plan to get some spending money. As children, we learn early that we are part of a family, and many duties and responsibilities come with that. Often, we are given odd jobs around the home. I was fortunate to have many jobs where I learned about hard work, saving my money, and figuring out who would pay us. One such job was mowing the grass for people around the neighborhood. We might earn a quarter or two by helping them out if lucky.
Growing up in a small town with no traffic lights meant that everyone knew each other, and if you were willing, you could get just about any small job for either money or trade for some item you wanted. I did this when I was about ten years old by mowing grass. I had my lawnmower, the old push type I’d found at the local dump, but it was not motorized. I was not allowed to use our power mower; that was Dad’s mower for our home.
Mowing the grass was one of the first jobs I had where I worked for myself. Part of my earnings went to the family. At first, I thought this was unfair, but I gained an appreciation for the respect my family and neighbors granted me for doing a good job. My earnings were whatever the homeowner gave me. Typically, this was a quarter of a dollar unless the yard was large, and then I got an extra dime.
It was hard work in the heat and humidity of the Deep South. The blades never cut me because the push lawn mower was typically dull, and I worked slowly until everything was cut. Many years later, I learned how to sharpen the mower blades after it would no longer do me any good. For a ten-year-old, however, sharpening was a skill too far advanced and required a sharp file that I did not possess.
One of my neighbors, the father of my best friend Wilson, would teach me some of the “tricks” of mowing the grass and pleasing the customer. This was new to me. He told me, “Either you do the job right or not at all,” and, of course, I said: “I had no idea that ‘not at all’ was an option.”
The mowing part, I had that down pretty well. Satisfying the customer was a different story, however. He told me that the first thing I should do is to politely ask the customer how they were getting along and thank them for their generosity in hiring me. Smile, he also said, “as if your life depended upon it.”
He told me it was just as essential to get my customers to like me as it was to do a good job. If they were unsatisfied with my work, I could forget about any future work, and the adults would no longer help me. Mrs. Cox would say to my mom, “That Doug sure has a beautiful smile.” I was learning and learning fast.
As the years passed, my family moved to the big city 10 miles north. I didn’t realize it then, but this big city had a population of about 8,000, which was “big” for me. I no longer mowed anyone’s yard, but I came into contact with a farmer who gave me much better jobs, picking up cow manure, cleaning pig pens, and finally graduating to milking cows. That’s where I met my first real girlfriend. And that is another story.
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NOTE: See all my letters here: https://www.theleadermaker.com/granddaughter-letters/
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Please read my books:
Sir, I’m new to your website, and drawn to it by this letter to your lovely granddaughter. Please accept my best wishes as you continue to educate her on you as a little boy. I’m going back now to read the remainder of your letters to her. Is there anywhere else that I can find more about your writings? Can I make contributions in other ways? 🌹
Susan, thank you for reading this letter. Anyone with suggestions, corrections, and criticisms are welcome to contribute by simply writing here in the leadership forums. I read the comments daily. Welcome aboard.
Ganyan kaganda ang sulat sa apo mo. Ang gayong mga liham ay dapat pahalagahan.
Such a beautiful letter to your granddaughter. Such letters are to be treasured.
And, thank you all for welcoming me here.
“He told me it was just as essential to get my customers to like me as it was to do a good job. If they were unsatisfied with my work, I could forget about any future work, and the adults would no longer help me. Mrs. Cox would say to my mom, “That Doug sure has a beautiful smile.” I was learning and learning fast.”
Excellent advice. Customer service is essential.
The Bible plainly teaches us what ever we do for other do it as unto the Lord.
Great comment, Eddie. I can tell you are a religous man with experience in doing good. Thank you, sir and God Bless! 🙏
Rev Cain .yes i been a Christian since 15th July 1980. I been preaching since May 1992. I enjoy preaching and reaching out to uplift people.
I’m new to this website and was attracted by these wonderful letters. I’m going back to read them all. It’s impressive that these are published for all of us to read. Thank you sir for your kindness and patriotism. 🇺🇸
Welcome Nancy Swift.
Nancy Swift welcome aboard. Gen Douglas Satterfield my friend have an excellent skill for writing. You are welcome to make comments he love it. He does not get anger and stop you from making comment he doesn’t like. Again welcome aboard we’re family
Gen. Satterfield sure knows how to write a good letter. At some point, I hope he writes about his granddaughter and her feelings about these letters.
JT Patterson excellent advice on Gen write about his granddaughter feeling abouts his letters to her
The BIG City, population 8,000. Now that tells us something about how small his home town was at that time. Amazing how our current situation affects our long-term view of where we are at any particular time. Gen. Satterfield came from smalltown USA. And he will forever be shaped psychosocially by that small town environment. Mowing the grass there must have been a unique experience for him.
Sadako Red, thanks for the compliment.
RED, a pleasure to hear from you.
Gen. Satterfield’s friend Wilson keeps popping up. Must have been a great relationship.
you write good letters
Got that right, Jerome.
“Mowing the grass was one of the first jobs I had where I worked for myself. Part of my earnings went to the family. At first, I thought this was unfair, but I gained an appreciation for the respect my family and neighbors granted me for doing a good job. My earnings were whatever the homeowner gave me. Typically, this was a quarter of a dollar unless the yard was large, and then I got an extra dime. It was hard work in the heat and humidity of the Deep South. The blades never cut me because the push lawn mower was typically dull, and I worked slowly until everything was cut. Many years later, I learned how to sharpen the mower blades after it would no longer do me any good. For a ten-year-old, however, sharpening was a skill too far advanced and required a sharp file that I did not possess.” – Gen. Doug Satterfield, the best lines.
Off topic, but OJ Simpson cancer death live updates: Reactions from Caitlyn Jenner. Good riddance.
Gen. Satterfield, you sure know how to write letters. I wish they were in long-handwriting, that way it would be really the old fashioned way. 📫
Chuck, got that right. Gen. Satterfield is Da man.
HI Chuck, as you know now, this is letter #65. A bunch of letters to his granddaughter. Many of us have asked that Gen. Satterfield publish these letters into a book and also link them somehow to his success as an army officer. One question that I have is how can these experiences (from the letters that he highlights) support his success as a General Officer. Is there even a connection? I suggest for us that there is a common link. In the book, one thing that Gen. Satterfield can do is connect the dots (so to speak) and show us. Now, that would be something to purchase and read. I will continue to encourage him on this and I hope others reading his blog do the same. I can’t wait to read it.
Max, well said, and I too support this idea as I’ve written before in the forums. A book with the letters would be great. This past weekend, I was in an antiques store and looked randomly at some books they were selling, mostly for $5 or so. In one of them, the author (not famous) did exactly that. He was writing a dairy of sorts and published years of what happened to him. Now his realtives forever will get to read about his experiences and his thinking, why he did some things. A worthwhile project too for Gen. Satterfield.
Max and Doc, well said.
Mowing the grass! POWERFUL letter.
“One of my neighbors, the father of my best friend Wilson, would teach me some of the “tricks” of mowing the grass and pleasing the customer. This was new to me. He told me, “Either you do the job right or not at all,” and, of course, I said: “I had no idea that ‘not at all’ was an option.”” – Gen. Doug Satterfield and one of his more powerful statements. Do the job right, there is no other option. Yep.
Either you do the job right or not at all. Kinda hard to disagree with that.
Gen. Satterfield, you continue to outdo yourself. Great letter to your granddaughter.
I’m kind of new here and stumbled upon this “Letter to My Granddaughter.” Sir, it is lovely what you are doing for me and others here. To tell stories of your childhood and then be able to link it your success in the US army is great.
“Banned” … welcome to Gen. Satterfield’s leadership forum where we can splash ideas around and get feedback that is not crazy but genuine. As long as you are not a snowflake, you will do well here.
Yes, welcome! 🤷♂️
👀👀👀👀👀 Got to say it, YES! Another letter to his granddaughter and a lovely one at that.
Mowing the grass.
🌿🌱🍃
Gen. Satterfield, you’ve done it again and shared with us a time that helped make you a better person. I know that you are basically telling us that you stumbled upon your life without thought and a mix of fear, but with good parents and other relatives (ie, Bigmama), you were propelled into a life that does you and your family the best. Thank you for what you do. No wonder that you are a true American Patriot.
https://www.theleadermaker.com/why-im-an-american-patriot/
🙏 This is why we are all big fans and pray for Gen. Satterfield and his family. 🙏
Yep, of course.
BIG BIG BIG Fans. 😁
Loved this letter, General Doug Satterfield.
Not only is there a great blog post on the fact that Gen. Satterfield is a strong American Patriot but if you read his book from his first combat tour in Iraq “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” you will see that patriotism in action. The very kind of patriotism that makes you proud, so not the xenophobic kind.
BEAUTIFUL story. 💖