Perspective
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Trying out a dream job
A basketball player or Playboy photographer – understandable. But a boat cleaner?
By William LobdellPublished: October 01, 2009
As a kid, I wanted to be a basketball player, a magician or a Playboy photographer.
As an adult, I thought I’d found my dream job as a journalist. I actually got paid for writing, a rarity. My career gave me behind-the-scenes access to nearly every aspect of our society. And I worked in newsrooms filled with smart, if sometimes kooky, people.
Of Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
As a journalist, I was far too easily pleased. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to be a boat cleaner – the guy who swims beneath yachts and scrubs their hulls.
Maybe it was a childhood spent watching “Sea Hunt” and Jacques Cousteau specials, but being a boat cleaner seemed to me as romantic as being an astronaut, cowboy or movie star.
So I called Scott McLeod of McLeod’s Diving Service in Newport Beach and asked if I could volunteer for a day.
“You got it, doggie!” replied McLeod. Bald, buff and brimming with energy, McLeod, 48, oversees an operation whose client list has expanded to more than 60.
On a sunny September morning, McLeod relayed the basics of boat cleaning as we motored his 14-foot skiff to our first stop.
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As an adult, I thought I’d found my dream job as a journalist. I actually got paid for writing, a rarity. My career gave me behind-the-scenes access to nearly every aspect of our society. And I worked in newsrooms filled with smart, if sometimes kooky, people. Of Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” As a journalist, I was far too easily pleased. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to be a boat cleaner – the guy who swims beneath yachts and scrubs their hulls. Maybe it was a childhood spent watching “Sea Hunt” and Jacques Cousteau specials, but being a boat cleaner seemed to me as romantic as being an astronaut, cowboy or movie star. So I called Scott McLeod of McLeod’s Diving Service in Newport Beach and asked if I could volunteer for a day.“You got it, doggie!” replied McLeod. Bald, buff and brimming with energy, McLeod, 48, oversees an operation whose client list has expanded to more than 60. On a sunny September morning, McLeod relayed the basics of boat cleaning as we motored his 14-foot skiff to our first stop. NEXT PAGE >>> |
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