"It Is What It Is"(Herm Sherwood-Sitts) “It Is What It Is”
By herm Sherwood-Sitts


I was having a hard time trying to find work. The economy in our area was in pretty rough shape. I had been working as a cable lineman outta’ town and the construction had ended, that’s when I answered the newspaper ad.

Needed: someone to cut and split wood.

I had done this type of labor before for my dad and for myself. I drove to the address and there on the front lawn was a huge Elm tree that the Highway Dept. had cut down. When I knocked on the door an old German lady answered. We agreed on $150 to do the job.

Well the old Elm was tougher than I had anticipated. My chainsaw cut it fine, but when I tried to split it with a go-devil it would just bounce off. When I used a wedge it took forever because of the stringy grain of the wood. The only option was to borrow my father-in-law’s wood splitter. Of course this was going to cut into what little profit I was going to make.

It took me three days to cut and split the wood. The old woman looked at the huge pile of wood on her front lawn and invited me in for lunch. As she served me a sandwich she had a somber look and tears were building up in the corners of her eyes. That is when she told me, “I am sorry…I don’t have the money to pay you.”

Looking around her rundown abode, I realized she was having a hardship worse than I was. I told her it was ok and thanked her for the sandwich. I then stacked what firewood would fit into her wood shed and left.

On the way home I thought to myself… “It Is What It Is”.

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