In a candid moment shared on February 17, 2021, Frank Watkinson, a beloved folk musician known for his heartfelt songs and covers on YouTube, offered a glimpse into his life and philosophy. In this poignant and humorous reflection, Frank recounts formative experiences from his childhood and professional life that shaped his outlook on rewards, fairness, and hard work. His words resonate deeply, serving as a reminder that the journey often teaches more than the destination.
Frank Watkinson:
I did have a lot of people saying that because I’ve got so many subscribers, I should get an award from YouTube. Well, it turns out I won’t get an award. I do too many covers, and they don’t like people that just do covers, so... never mind. I wasn’t expecting one anyway.
It reminds me of when I was nine. My mum—my dad died when I was nine—and my mum moved us all up from the east of England to the north. I started a new school, and it was about a month or so till the exams. When I got there, all their subjects were a bit different. Like history, they were doing Romans, and I was doing Norman Conquest. And for English literature, they were studying different books than what we’d been studying. But it didn’t matter; I just plodded on with it all.
Then when the exams came, it turns out I came second in the year for all the classes. The lads came to me and said, “You’re gonna get a prize now, because if you come first or second, you get a prize.” And so I thought, “Oh great.”
Anyway, a couple of days before prize day, the teachers called me into the office and said, “We’re not going to give you the prize, Frank, because it’s not fair to the person that’s been at school for the whole year who came third. So we’re going to give the second prize to the person who came third, because you might have had a better education than him before.”
It didn’t wash well. I thought, “It doesn’t seem quite fair to me because I didn’t even know what they were doing. But never mind, that’s the way it was. They want to play that game.” From then on, it taught me a lesson. If someone hangs a carrot in front of you and says, “Work hard, and you can get this,” you know... just think about it. It’s a trick. These rewards and that—it’s a trick. Don’t fall for it. I never fell for that again.
I think I probably would have been a lot more clever if I hadn’t learned that lesson so young. To upset somebody… it reminds me of one day when I got a job at this company. One morning, one of the CEOs pulled into the car park in a brand new Ferrari. I walked over to it and said, “That’s amazing. That’s a beautiful car.”
And he goes, “Do you like it?”
“Yeah, I love it.”
He says, “Well, if you put the hours in, and if you work really hard, and you go that extra mile every day… I can get a better one next year.”
That’s what you need to learn. It’s all a con. Anyway, thanks again. I’ve gotta go. She’ll be home soon from work. She still thinks I’m pottering in the shed all day. All right, see you later. Bye.
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ChatGPT Prompt:
please write out this transcript: write a title, sub title and introduction speaker=Frank Watkinson date: Feb 17, 2021
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