After moving and living in Doylestown for about a year, as I approached the summer following my sophmore year at Central Bucks East my mother was pushing me pretty hard to find a summer job. As a teen I was pushing back pretty hard to hang out with my friends, play baseball and go to the beach!
One morning, Mom came to me with the Help Wanted ads from the Daily Intelligencer with a ad to work at a woodshop doing general help, clean up and whatever else was needed. I thought I might enjoy working with wood [that's what I thought I was responding to] so I called the number in the ad and was told to come to an interview the next day in New Hope, PA at Nakashima Woodworks. I didnt drive yet so Mom ferried me the 20 minutes over to New Hope from Doylestown. When I arrived, there was a cluster of buildings and no clear indication of where I should go. After looking into a couple I found someone who directed to the office where I was told to enter and sit down. It was a simple, but I recall it being cluttered space with a window that looked down a hillside toward a small pond. After a few minutes a small older man entered and sat down. He asked me why I was there, which threw me off, I said I was responding to his ad. He nodded him head and said nothing for a few moments than slowly told me that he had a pond [yes, I can see it] and that he has ducks on the pond [right I see them as well] and that there is a snapping turtle in the pond [I did not see that]. He then stopped speaking for another few moments [I had no idea where this was going and although I considered myself adept at small talk, this was a variety of it I had not encountered]. After a few moments, my interviewer went on to add slowly that "the snapping turtle eats the ducks", another pause. "I am sorry to hear that sir." My attempt to express empathy. The older man slowly nodded his head, pauses another few moments. "Would you catch and remove the snapping turtle?" came from him. Now it is my turn to pause. I responded that I was applying to work in the woodshop [unsaid was what I was thinking, "I am not applying to manage wildlife on your property"].
The older man rose and nodded to me and said, "thank you for coming". I turned and left and felt alot like Daniel in The Karate Kid. Daniel failed to understand for a while that he was being tested and trained by Mr. Miagi. My Mr Miagi was actually George Nakashima, now, and at the time well-recognized by the world for his furniture making.
Many years later, Mira Nakashima was attending an event at my church, where her son, daughter in law and grandson were parishioners. I was speaking with Mira and mentioned my story to her and added that, "your father gave me a character test, and I'm afraid I failed it". She smiled and told me that I was in good and plentiful company. It took me years to understand that Mr Nakashima was testing me, it was an invaluable lesson that I wish I had learned earlier but in the end was very glad to have learned at all.
