Let George Do It

I won’t lie – there are things that come up in life that I really don’t want to do.  In many cases, they just don’t get done.
In other cases, I pay people for doing it. I’ve always believed there are two kinds of people in the world – those who do things, and those who pay others to do things.  I have always fallen into the second category.
Take yard work, for instance.  It’s never been a big thing for me, though I know many people for whom their yard is a pleasure and a privilege, and it shows when you look at it.
For me, yard work was always drudgery, with the emphasis being on the “work” part.
Today, as an old man with heart issues, I pay a very good yard man to take care of my home’s greenery twice a month.  He does exceptional work and doesn’t charge me very much, compared to others who do a similar job.  I’m happy to pay this man what he charges so my yard looks good … and I don’t have to do it.
Automobile work definitely falls under this category as well.  My father was an excellent auto mechanic in his spare time.  He was someone who had a great time tinkering around under the hood, and he taught my brother how to do the same thing. He tried to teach me as well, but … the interest just wasn’t there.
I know that today, maintaining an auto is an expensive proposition, and I have the graveyard of former cars to prove that. With my newest auto, I practice preventive maintenance, and I have to admit things don’t cost nearly as much when you do it that way.
This even extends to my home. Since my illness last year, I’ve had trouble coming up with enough energy to give my house the thorough cleaning it desperately needs. Finding enough hours in a day to apply to that is also a problem, and I am realizing that I’ll have to solve that problem the way I do most others in this area.
Do you know anybody you’d recommend as a good house cleaner?
Heck, I even bought a countertop dishwasher because I don’t like washing dishes, and I eat frozen meals or dine out because I don’t like to cook.
The older I get, the less inclined to any real physical activity I become. It may or may not be a symptom of age; it could also be the ultimate result of a life spent on other pursuits.
I know how I am coming across here – pretty much lazy. That isn’t really true, though. For my interests, and my priorities, I do work, and I work hard when it’s called for. A person doesn’t hit a 50-year career in anything unless they put in the work, and I will stand my half-century broadcasting career up against anybody’s.
Teaching was also hard work, and I did it for 27 years.
Acting is not easy, and I’ve been doing it since I was five years old. That’s a craft I really work at.
And my newspaper work? I’ve been here ten years now, and have won a couple of awards for what I do. So I can say I do work hard at that.
I am not averse to hard work, I assure you. I just pick and choose the hard work I want to do.
At my age, I’ve earned that privilege.
There is an old saying, one which originated in the early 20th Century, which spells out this lifelong pattern of mine – “Let George do it.”
The origin of the saying is somewhat ambiguous, with some sources saying it was based on railroad magnate George Pullman who hired people to work as porters on his sleeping cars. The passengers expected “George’s men” to do everything, so the phrase became “Let George’s men do it,” and it evolved into the phrase I mentioned before.
Other references say the phrase doesn’t mean anyone in particular, and the name “George” was just thrown in as a convenience.
Either way, “Let George do it” is a phrase which recommends that someone other than the speaker perform a given task.
The saying even became the title of a popular radio drama. In the show, a private detective named George Valentine solved mysteries and found missing items. It was a pretty good show – it lasted from 1946 to 1954, a lifetime in radio programs.  It’s online if you want to check out Let George Do It.
I do want to reassure you that I am still as active as I can be, one year following my heart issues. Things I never did before, I still don’t do. Things that are more difficult to do than before, I just follow my own advice:
Let George do it.