Hard work means a lot of different things.

If you're working class it means putting your back into it. If your in a law firm it means long hours and lots of research. Or even worse if your in childcare it means hours of torture every day.

Hard work is very dependent on your station in life.

Whether it's mental or menial there is no comparison between jobs but there is a huge similarity in mindsets.

Hard work is a mentality which comes form what you see around you. We grew up with little in our lives so hard work was all about putting in the hours to earn a bit more and make life a bit easier for all of the family.

That got us into college and a chance to do a bit more with our lives than our parents generation. My sister took that opportunity, I didn't. I tried college but it wasn't for me. I much prefer putting my back into it and earning for what i can achieve.

This put me in mind of a classic Irish movie straight away.

The field.

"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing endlessly for the sake of the land, and when the widow, who owns the field, decides to sell the field in a public auction, McCabe knows that he must own it. But while no one in the village would dare bid against him, an American with deep pockets decides that he needs the field to build a highway. The Bull and his son decide to convince the American to give up bidding on the field, but things go horribly wrong.

Ref: IMDB

It's such a good reflection of a time not that long ago when money was made on the land. People didn't have much in their lives and community was everything. The epidemy of Irish life at the time.

Then what happens when a rich person comes in and tries to take away what was hard fought for over generations.

Taking away a families lifeline, income, future and past that was built on the sweat of their backs.

The movie speaks to me from growing up on a farm with my father working a full time job and then farming in the evenings. He inherited the land from his uncle and his brother got land form their father. It's a primal things in these parts and they all help each other and share the workloads.

This allowed our family to thrive growing up and while there was never anything to spare in those days, we never went short for anything either.

It's particularly relevant in these times when large funds are buying up all of the property around the country for huge rental profits while ordinary people will struggle to keep the lights on for the winter after paying far too much to have any chance at a limited housing supply.

It's where i learned my work ethic that has stood to me so well over my life to date.

I might never have gotten the big education that i could have but common sense and hard work has gotten me to a good point in life where we are working hard to build a future for our family in the same way that my parents have done and the same way that the Bull McCabe indented to do for his own son in the movie.

It might not have turned out so well by the end of the movie but the intention was good.

This is an entry to the latest cine.tv writing contest to be found here at,

https://www.cinetv.io/hive-121744/@cinetv/cine-tv-contest-29-a-movie-that-represents-hard-work