Steamboat Captain Applicant

The Steamboat Captain Applicant

On the old Mississippi River in the 1800s,  a captain's position became open in a fine steamboat company. Only two applicants responded to the posted notice. They came in to be interviewed by the owner of the company, whose previous captain had grown old and retired, and therefore left a vacancy.

The first applicant was a young man, dressed in his finest, boat captain's uniform, with hair neat and leather boots shining. The owner greeted him warmly as the fellow came into his office.  After some preliminary conversation about the river in general, the owner asked him, "Son, what makes you fit to captain a steamboat?

"Well, Sir," the young man responded. I've been well trained.  I worked for a competitor of yours for 5 years on this very river.  The captain I served under taught me how to pilot a boat, pointing out where the sandbars are, shallow water, and so on.  When they finally made me captain of my own boat, I sailed up and down the Mississippi for 3 years and, I'm pleased to tell you, I never ever ran aground and never had an accident.  I know the river very well. 

"Well, Son," said the captain.  I appreciate talking to you.  I still have to interview another applicant. I'll let you know about the availability of the position after I've spoken with him.

 The owner of the riverboat came out of his office to welcome the second applicant.  He was taken back by the man's appearance.  Though clean and neat, his clothes were worn and his leathery face was lined by the strain of years of work in the southern sun.  Though the man didn't seem much concerned about his appearance, still his handshake was strong and firm and a humorous smile graced his lips when he greeted the owner.

"Come into my office and have a seat," he said.

 After a few minutes of friendly conversation, the owner asked him the same question he had asked the other applicant.  "What makes you fit to captain a steamboat?"

Without any hesitation, came the response.   "Sir, I came to work on the river when I was just a boy.  I learned how to load freight aboard a riverboat so that the boat would remain balanced.  I spent many hours in the engine room watching the fellows stoke the firebox and fixing the machinery whenever there was a problem, pitching in to help whenever they let me.  There isn't a part of a steamboat that I don't know how to fix, or a problem that I don't know how to deal with.

"That's all well and good," said the owner.  But what makes you qualified to steer and captain a steamboat.

 "Well," responded the applicant, in my years of sailing up and down this mighty river, I've hit every sandbar, and run aground many times, at least in the early years.  I know where every sandbar is, every shallow bed, every deep stretch, every sunken log, each whirlpool, boulder and  twist of the river run.  I've sailed her when the water was high and dangerous and I've sailed her when the water was low and treacherous.

This river has beaten me up many times, but I've survived and always brought the boat through.

After having listened to the first applicant, and now to the second, the riverboat owner got up from his chair, went over to the weatherworn fellow, extended his hand and said, "My friend, welcome aboard!  Your long record of hard experience and your straightforwardness has earned you a position on my team. 

Sailing the river of life to that wondrous ocean can be an enormous challenge but it's by a grand design.  We are the pilot.  We make many mistakes, we hit many hidden rocks, we endure tragedy and pain.  As much as we end up scratched and tatter torn, still that's how we learn and grow.  And that's how we become valuable and useful to others, becoming master pilots of the steamboat of our lives-- tested, not giving up, and coming through.