This week the topic is ‘What was your best ‘drop the mic’ moment?’
I must admit, I had not heard that phrase here in East Anglia, UK. I’ve heard of ‘Taking the Mick’, but not ‘Dropping the mic’. However, my US blog-hopper friends quickly translated it for me as a kind of ‘glory’ moment that you experience when you know you’ve nailed it.
Okay, well… I had to wait a long time for my glory moment – I’d say about 20 years. It all goes back to when my sons Leon and Marc were aged 16 and at the point of leaving school. Neither of them wanted to go to university; in fact all Leon wanted to do was play computer games, and all Marc wanted to do was play his guitar in the garage along with several hirsute, unwashed musos that you’d never want to come across on a dark night.
I informed both boys quite sternly that they would have to do something to earn a living, and reiterated what my own father had said to me: “If you think you’re going to sit on your arse and do nothing, then you can think again.”
Leon carried on playing computer games, and Marc turned up the volume on his Mesa Boogie amp to drown me out. I asked them how they intended to eventually keep a family and pay a mortgage, but they told me they had no intention of ever getting married and had no desire to move out in the foreseeable future.
However, I was not to be put off. I knew the boys were not particularly academic, but they were very practical like their father. I went along to a place in town that advertised apprenticeships for young people aged 16 -19. I came away with a list of local apprenticeships available, and stuck them in front of Leon’s nose in 1998 and again in front of Marc and his guitar-which-needed-to-be-surgically-removed in 2001. Both boys reluctantly picked out two each. Then it was a case of making sure they’d filled in the application forms correctly, which unfortunately neither one was in any hurry to do. I even posted the bloody forms as well.
About two weeks before they left school, the boys received invitations to attend for apprentice interviews. Nervous, suited and booted, they turned up. They must have impressed the interview panel, because Leon received offers to become either a car mechanic or an air-con engineer (he chose the latter), and Marc had an offer to become a lathe operator/CNC machinist. They left school on the Friday and started work on the Monday and were actually quietly delighted, especially when they discovered they would be paid a weekly wage and given a day off to attend college.
Twenty years on, after many exam passes and a couple of changes of employers (but still not with any university degrees between them), Marc is the general manager of a Cambridge-based precision engineering company, and Leon is a senior manager in a nationwide building/engineering company, ever competitive, and with his sights set on getting the same title as his younger brother . They’ve both taken time to thank me for my efforts in obtaining them gainful employment when they were 16 and didn’t know any better, which they realise eventually helped them to pay their mortgages and keep the families they said they’d never ever have!
I must admit, when my now 30-something sons thanked me and gave me a hug, I think it was my ‘Drop the mic’ moment.
What was your ‘Drop the mic‘ moment? Click on the blue button below to discover other blog-hoppers’ moments of glory, or even add your own:
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
Pingback: Open Book Blog Hop: Dropping the Mic’ – My Corner
Stevie Turner said:
Thanks for linking up, Abbie.
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P.J. MacLayne said:
I would certainly rank this as a drop the mic moment- a little delayed, maybe, but worth the wait!
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks P.J. I couldn’t think of anything I’d said in the past, so I chose this one.
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aurorawatcherak said:
Reblogged this on aurorawatcherak.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks for re-blogging.
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aurorawatcherak said:
Total mic drops, Stevie!
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks Aurora.
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Jodie said:
OMG…I loved this story. Even though I don’t have kids, I have lived vicariously through this over and over with my friends. And you know you’re a good mum when they do thank you.
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
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Stevie Turner said:
It took a while, but they did it.
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abbiejohnsontaylor said:
What an interesting prompt. My response to this should go live tomorrow.
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franklparker said:
I like your story and the way you pro-actively set your sons on the correct path for them. My son is 20 years younger than yours but went through similar problems in his teens. Eventually at around 19, he spotted an ad for a recruitment day at a local mental hospital. There were some practical experiences in the hospital which mostly catered for what were then called “Elderly Mental Infirm” people, as well as academic tests and interviews. He came back saying he thought he’d done well but wasn’t sure if he wanted that kind of job.
Days later the letter arrived – he’d been accepted, but the September intake had been filled. He could start in January. Meanwhile, if he wanted it, there was a temporary job available as a nursing assistant. He took to the job like the proverbial duck to water. When working as a CMN in London he studied part time and earned a Masters degree in Mental Health Studies, featuring a therapy called CAT (Cognitive Analytic Therapy), then in its infancy. After moving to Ireland 20 years ago he became a lead practitioner/trainer for the therapy here, whilst continuing to work for the state health service.
I guess our “Drop the mic” moment was attending his graduation ceremony in the Royal Festival Hall. But I can’t rule out, either, his two marriage ceremonies (the first did not end happily, but was a wonderful experience at the time) and the birth of our grand-daughter.
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Stevie Turner said:
It’s a great feeling to know our children found their niche in life and enjoy their work. Thanks for your comment Frank.
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