A gregarious Canadian man, glasses fogged from the cold outside, enters the offices of Harmony Beef north of Calgary. Not even knowing by face who owner Rich Vesta was, much less this meat industry reporter, he immediately pours his heart out, lamenting that he’s heading to human resources to resign.

A loading dock worker, he says he has a bacterial infection in his sinuses that the cold in that area of the plant makes impossible to work through, and he believes it will require surgery and months to recover.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” says Vesta.

“Well, so am I,” says the worker. “I actually like my job, and I like my shift.”

Vesta urges the man to take a leave of absence, rather than resign, so that he doesn’t have to start all over after he recovers from the procedure. He tells the worker to tell HR that he sent him in there.

“What’s your name?” the worker asks.

“Rich Vesta,” replies Vesta.

“Oh, holy s#@!” the worker says, “Nice to meet ya!” He thanks Vesta for the referral, and says again, “I gotta tell you, I absolutely do like the work.”

“Did you like the bonus?” Vesta asks, referring to a $1,000 Christmas bonus the company had just issued.

“I’d hug you if I weren’t sick,” the worker replies. “And I hate to say this, but I’m gonna miss the meat sale. That sucks. There’s a lot of stuff that I really like about here.”

“I’m glad you do,” Vesta says.

We try to venture on to our original aim, heading out to look at how construction of a new hot box is going.

But the worker goes on, gushing, “I worked in construction for 30 years, and comparing construction companies to you guys is like crappy apples to some really nice, juicy oranges.”

We all laugh, and finally move on.

Yes, he actually said this. I’m able to recount this exchange verbatim because I had already turned my recorder on to chat with Vesta as we walked around, before bumping into this fellow on our way out.

In a blog posted about a month ago, stuck in an airport for hours, I vented the frustration of trying to move people and goods at a time of another COVID surge and continuing supply chain snafus. I’d hoped the effort behind my highly complicated travel to Canada would be worth it.

This moment won’t fit into the profile of Harmony Beef that will run in our February magazine, but I’m happy to share it here because it’s another example of why it sure was well worth being there.

We all want a genuine experience. We all want authenticity. We all want to work with people who want to work and succeed with us. And in tough times, we just want some positives.

That gentleman’s enthusiasm for his job was infectious. And as I write this blog, frustrated at the COVID infection I have contracted and the complications it has presented in my daily life, I have to keep things in perspective and be thankful that I am still able to continue doing the work I love.

He’s not as lucky. He’s going to have to take some time off, at least. But I have to think his positive nature is ultimately going to pay off for him.

May life hand you 'nice, juicy oranges'

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