Work For Food

[OLD SARGE]

Work For Food

Your cripple the spirit and soul of a person when you keep giving handouts instead of a hand up.

sermoncentral.com

 

[Cathode]

Work is very important. In Australia we had itinerant workers called swagmen. They were called swagmen because they carried a swag which is a type of bed roll with them. The other item they carried was a billy pot for boiling water for tea and food.
My Grandmother told me it was a huge cultural crime not to invite a swagman in to rest if he was sick or give him something for his journey. A swagman would do jobs and help in return.
Many old swagmen would die at people’s places when taken in, but given the dignity of a proper burial, because they were icons of Australian culture.

When there is no welfare system, work always needs doing, and an agreement and a handshake guaranteed it.

These were not bums, they build roads, worked farms and orchards and many other jobs that built the nation, and had tough lives.
Their work was their dignity because they weren’t after handouts, they were always looking for work.

 

[OLD SARGE]

Swag has a whole different meaning over here.

 

[Cathode]

Swag has a whole different meaning over here.

Traditional swags are simple, not the tent like things people have today, which are so big that they can only be carried by vehicle.

 

[OLD SARGE]

In our culture, you have swag when you impress people by your walk of confidence or even arrogance. People will look at you and say, "That man has some major swag going on."

 

[Cathode]

In our culture, you have swag when you impress people by your walk of confidence or even arrogance. People will look at you and say, "That man has some major swag going on."

If a man has swag here, it means a good nights sleep without scorpions and mosquitoes bothering him.