What we have here is a picture of Mike Rowe climbing out of a 35-foot white stretch limo. Not pictured, are about a thousand farmers standing around slack-jawed, as the Dirty Jobs Guy extracts himself from said vehicle to address said farmers in a giant tent on a hundred-degree afternoon in the charming town of Decatur, Illinois. In this way, Mike Rowe made his entrance at The Annual Farm Progress Show last week – with a level of panache best described as…”uncharacteristic.”
Normally, Mike Rowe doesn’t talk about himself in the third person, but when he sees himself in a circumstance this unlikely, he sometimes erects a literary firewall between himself and his no doubt confused readers. Such is the case here. A dearth of available transportation left the good people at Syngenta with few viable options to get Mike Rowe from the airport to their event. Uber apparently, has yet to crack the market in Decatur, so the choices were a John Deere tractor circa 1965, or the same limo that got Mike Rowe to his Senior Prom three and a half decades ago. (Frankly, I’d have been fine with the John Deere, but what are you gonna do?)
Seeing as I’ve now slipped back into first person, I’ll get to the point. Aside from treating me like a visiting Duke and providing a fascinating look at new product guaranteed to increase crop yields and feed more people, Syngenta is sponsoring a photo contest around a new campaign called Not Afraid to Work. They’ve asked if I might encourage my friends here to submit a photo, assuming of course you have a job that resembles work. I’ve agreed to pass on their request for several reasons.
1. I like the campaign, and appreciate what the company does for and with farmers.
2. Prizes are involved, and prizes are never a bad thing.
3. Syngenta will donate $5 to mikeroweWORKS for every tweet that goes to #NotAfraidToWork, up to $10,000.00
4. They sent me a frickin’ limo!
Obviously, number 3 is the most interesting, and the reason for todays request. If you have a second, please consider yourself officially invited to visit NotAfraidToWork.com, and share away. It’s an easy way to grab a quick $10K for the Foundation.
And the next time someone offers you a ride in white, 35-foot stretch limo, think of me at the prom, and thank a farmer…
Mike