Mulish Mainahs

Both Mainers and fishermen are infamous for their stubbornness. That would make the Maine lobsterman the epitome of obstinacy. This is logical, since a fisherman with a weak will would have a very difficult time making a living on the ocean. In other words, you must have a strong will to survive a winter working on the water.

I don't exclude myself from this sweeping generalization. I have one story in particular that illustrates this. One afternoon after a long, cold day of shrimping this past January, Cap and I pulled in to the dock to sell our shrimp, fuel up, and load empty shrimp trays on board to fill the next day. I was tired and grumpy when I crawled up the ladder to grab some trays on the dock. Cap was aboard fueling up. Another sternman, rather rolly-polly young fellah, happened to be on the dock shootin' the shit with the dock hands. I counted out 11 trays and went through them to make sure they didn't have gaping holes that the shrimp would fall through. When I went to lift them and pass them down to Cap, the sternman offered to give me a hand. I 'magine he was just being courteous, since 11 trays is quite an armful for someone my size, but at the time I thought he was questioning my strength. In response, I swept up the trays and lowered them down to Cap in one fell swoop. Cap looked up smirking. I'm still not sure if it was the sternman's chivalry or my bull-headedness that amused him. Perhaps it was both. I still can't help but smile when I think of that interaction.

Just about all of the captains I know (including my father) would rather die working than take a sick day when they feel under-the-weather. This winter Cap had an infliction that rendered him weak and feverish. He didn't know that it was serious until a few days later. Meanwhile, we were out hauling shrimp traps. One day on the steam home I noticed Cap sitting down while he drove the boat, looking pale and weak. I asked if he felt alright and he gruffly replied that he was fine. Come to find out that he had a kidney infection, which can get quite serious if left untreated.

Ask any fisherman and they will tell a story of how they continued hauling traps in a gale warning after they lost a hand in the hauler and blood was spurting everywhere, or some such foolery. One should keep in mind that this is most likely hyperbole, but there is probably some truth to their heroic epic. A fisherman would rather keep working through pain and suffering than stop on account of him any day. This is thought of as selfless, yet it is actually quite selfish, in my opinion. You see by not taking care of yourself, you are putting others at risk. And, needless to say, the others are worried sick about your well-being.

Aside from being stubborn about one's health, I do think there's some merit to possessing a strong will. It gets us through hard times and long winters up here in "Vacationland." I gotta say, I'm warming up to letting others lend me a helping hand once in a while. . . only if they ask first. After all, a girl's gotta have her pride.