Early in my sea going career one of the Senior Officers aboard the ship (I was on) introduced me to his wife and teenage son and daughter when we stopped at a coastal US city to load some cargo. This was where they all lived. They all met up and were going out to dinner before we set out on our two month trip to Central and South America.
The ship we were on was commonly called a ‘stick’ ship.
This was because it had booms and hatches carrying break bulk cargo of all different types. Due to this type of cargo loading and discharging was a long process. Therefore we would be in port for multiple days at a time.
There were some ports we would stop at on the way southbound to discharge cargo. Then we would return to the same port to load goods on the way northbound.
Two more times during this same voyage the Senior Officer introduced me to his wife in one port – not the same wife as in the US coastal port. The next time in another port he introduced me to his wife and young son – not the same wife as the other two women.
No one aboard the ship seemed to be troubled by these events.
In fact it appears that at least three other crew members had at least one other family in one of the port cities in addition to his US family. There may not be a ‘stick’ ship in commercial shipping trade with a US flag any longer. The majority of cargo is loaded into containers and then these containers are loaded and discharged in various ports within hours not days.
The story of my experiencing the various ports and meeting the other families seems to have been a fixture with various seaman.
A ship on a regular route would spend days in the same ports.
Each month or two repeating the same journey.
How does this story strike you? (Use the comments area for this article and share your view)
Okay now my question for you – do you live your values all of the time or not?
Is there a weighted system you have where certain values are for home and church and other values or not are for business and the workplace?
What do you do then – sit down and keep score?
“Your values are always your values, no matter what the circumstances are. Live them.” – Mitch Tublin
Mitch Tublin is the CEO and Founder of Wenkroy International LLC, a boutique consulting company with a main focus on adding value to people. Through speaking, training and coaching we change lives. Our passion is to take people to the next level in their life and in their career or business.
