WEBVTT - A Work-Life Balance Worth Framing

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to on the Job. On today's episode, we're headed

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<v Speaker 1>up to the Granite State to speak with John Bethell, who,

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<v Speaker 1>after years of service to his country as a Navy chaplain,

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<v Speaker 1>re entered the civilian life as a small town shop owner.

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<v Speaker 1>But as different as the two livelihoods are, as we'll hear,

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<v Speaker 1>John discovered they actually had quite a few things in common.

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<v Speaker 1>When John Bethell was in the Navy for two years,

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<v Speaker 1>he was stationed on the Greek island of Crete. And yes,

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<v Speaker 1>it's okay to be jealous. I certainly am. But as

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<v Speaker 1>we know, for all the allure of a foreign destination,

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<v Speaker 1>especially one as beautiful as crete, being in a distant

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<v Speaker 1>land poses challenges, especially when you forget your wallet.

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<v Speaker 2>It was my second day in the village. I forgot

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<v Speaker 2>my wallet at my house, and I didn't know how

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<v Speaker 2>to appoly gives or say like, my money's not here.

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<v Speaker 2>Like I couldn't say any of that, and so I

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<v Speaker 2>I was like, do you have to wash dishes? I

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<v Speaker 2>didn't know what they're gonna make me do, and so

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<v Speaker 2>I uh, I was explaining to him, like, hey, my

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<v Speaker 2>wallet's there, I'll be right back. He goes, Oh, no, no,

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<v Speaker 2>you're the American. You're in the yellow house. We know

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<v Speaker 2>where you are, like, and it was the only taverna

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<v Speaker 2>Taverna's a little restaurant. He's like, they're the only tavarna

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<v Speaker 2>in the village. He's like, you know where you gonna go.

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<v Speaker 1>And John, who's originally from New York City, found this

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<v Speaker 1>small town trust amazing. And that's not the only thing

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<v Speaker 1>he loved about life in Greece.

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<v Speaker 2>I was very attracted to the way that it seems

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<v Speaker 2>as though they scheduled stuff stuff. Things are open and

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<v Speaker 2>closed as they're open and closed, and figure it out.

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<v Speaker 2>Some things will be closed for a month because or

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<v Speaker 2>there's the feast of Saint Whoever and everything's closed, or

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<v Speaker 2>it's the feast of Saint Whoever and everything's open until,

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<v Speaker 2>like you know, for days. And I remember when I

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<v Speaker 2>first got there, I thought, like, how do these people

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<v Speaker 2>live like this? But then after two years of it,

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<v Speaker 2>the question I was asking myself was what do I

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<v Speaker 2>have to do to live like this?

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<v Speaker 1>A big part of the reason that John was so

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<v Speaker 1>enamored of this Greek way of doing things was that

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<v Speaker 1>it was so completely foreign to him because in the Navy,

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<v Speaker 1>not only was he a small cog in a very

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<v Speaker 1>big wheel. But as a navy chaplain, he never really

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<v Speaker 1>had any time off.

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<v Speaker 2>With my job as a department head, and I had

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<v Speaker 2>had a duty phone with me. So this is a

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<v Speaker 2>phone that you This becomes your the phone becomes your mistress.

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<v Speaker 2>And I had that phone with me everywhere. If I

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<v Speaker 2>went on vacation, it wasn't really vacation. If I went

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<v Speaker 2>to visit somewhere else in Europe, it wasn't because I

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<v Speaker 2>had to have that phone, and I was the only

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<v Speaker 2>chaplain for the whole piece. And so you're always always connected.

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<v Speaker 2>There's always a way to reach you, and that it

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<v Speaker 2>leaves your adrenal glands at like a sort of like

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<v Speaker 2>a quiet low boil, do you know, Like you're always

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<v Speaker 2>like you're just waiting for this thing to ring, and

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<v Speaker 2>nobody calls chaplain's like with great news. So it's like

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<v Speaker 2>if it rings, it's well, somebody's dying or dead, or

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<v Speaker 2>there's some other situation, which of course I signed up for.

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<v Speaker 2>I get that, but to be bound to not turn

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<v Speaker 2>it off was a challenge.

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<v Speaker 1>So after two years of being stationed in Greece being

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<v Speaker 1>tethered to a service phone, John was feeling and inkling

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<v Speaker 1>to try something new, albeit while incorporating some of the

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<v Speaker 1>things he came to love about life and crete.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, they're industry, you know, they work, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>but they sort of put work in its place. And

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<v Speaker 2>the reason that I thought about having a shop was

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<v Speaker 2>that I fell in love with the idea of looking

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<v Speaker 2>at the clock and saying it's five o'clock, it's closing time,

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<v Speaker 2>it's quitting time, and locking the door and walking away.

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<v Speaker 1>And ever since John was a kid, he had this

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<v Speaker 1>idea of opening a print shop, one of those old

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<v Speaker 1>fashioned kinds with those big, heavy machines operated by hand,

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<v Speaker 1>which lay out the colors one at a time.

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<v Speaker 2>I've always loved printing as a hobby. My dad's retired

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<v Speaker 2>from the printing house of a newspaper, and I kind

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<v Speaker 2>of always grew up around that sort of stuff. And

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<v Speaker 2>I was just going to open up a print shop.

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<v Speaker 2>At first. I was just going to do a letter

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<v Speaker 2>press printing shop, and probably most of my work was

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<v Speaker 2>going to be online or through an SSI shop or

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<v Speaker 2>through the website.

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<v Speaker 1>So we starts bringing it up in conversation with some

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<v Speaker 1>of his shipmates, saying, you know, I'm thinking about getting

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<v Speaker 1>back to the civilian life, maybe opening up a print shop,

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<v Speaker 1>ideally in some small town in the US, where I

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<v Speaker 1>could replicate this Greek village way of living and lo

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<v Speaker 1>and behold. One of his shipmates says, hmm, that sounds

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<v Speaker 1>like where I'm from, Laconi in New Hampshire, and immediately

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<v Speaker 1>John's ears perk up, because though he was born and

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<v Speaker 1>raised in NYC, he spent his summers in New Hampshire

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<v Speaker 1>and always had a fondness for the state.

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<v Speaker 2>Part of the other reason that I really wanted New

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<v Speaker 2>Hampshire to begin with is that I grew up spending

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<v Speaker 2>my summers here. Like a lot of people. I was

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<v Speaker 2>down on Spotford Lake, so it's like the southwest corner

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<v Speaker 2>of the state, over by Keen.

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<v Speaker 1>But like a lot of the people that spend their

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<v Speaker 1>summers in New Hampshire, they don't tend to stick around

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<v Speaker 1>much later into the year. And Laconia is much further

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<v Speaker 1>north than where John spent his time in New Hampshire,

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<v Speaker 1>a state that with every mile you go up, feels

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<v Speaker 1>like another leap closer to the North Pole, which that

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<v Speaker 1>ship made of his might have failed to mention when

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<v Speaker 1>he pitched Laconia yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>I remember actually texting him. It was mid April and

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<v Speaker 2>I was sitting on the couch shivering, and I remember

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<v Speaker 2>asking him like, Hey, how long does this last? Because

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<v Speaker 2>it was a cold that gets to your bones. It's

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<v Speaker 2>a mean kind of cold. Yeah, so that part of

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<v Speaker 2>it was tough. The absolute amount of cold and snow

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<v Speaker 2>that year. There was a lot of snow that year too.

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<v Speaker 1>And the town itself wasn't exactly a fantasy land either. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>there was a lovely old main street with beautiful brick

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<v Speaker 1>buildings dating back to the previous century, but like a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of the small cities in America, Laconia was far

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<v Speaker 1>from thriving.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. What do you do when you hit with the

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<v Speaker 2>hard reality of boarding windows, right, and we have a

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<v Speaker 2>pretty decent influx of like unhoused people, homeless people. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>that's a that's a that's a tough one to deal with.

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<v Speaker 1>But despite its current condition, John could see the potential.

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<v Speaker 1>So we put on his snow boots and went around town,

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<v Speaker 1>introducing himself to some of the local business owners to

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<v Speaker 1>get a feel for the place, and very quickly he

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<v Speaker 1>experienced that small town charm.

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<v Speaker 2>I said, Hey, when they kind of want to do this,

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<v Speaker 2>and the cobbler said, you know, we have a cobbler.

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<v Speaker 2>That's the kind of downtown Disney we have. The cobbler said, well,

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<v Speaker 2>the frame shop is going to he's trying to sell it,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's he's going to sell it for a pretty

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<v Speaker 2>good price because he's just trying to get out of here.

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<v Speaker 1>So frame shop as in picture and art framing shop,

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<v Speaker 1>which John immediately thinks would go perfectly well with his

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<v Speaker 1>vision for a printing shop.

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<v Speaker 2>So I asked the cobbler, and the cobbler told me

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<v Speaker 2>to go talk to this guy. And I went and

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<v Speaker 2>talked to the guy and he said, yep, you can

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<v Speaker 2>have it for a song. And so he just wanted

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<v Speaker 2>to move on, and it was kind of a fire sale.

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<v Speaker 1>And on top of that, the previous owner even let

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<v Speaker 1>John take a look at his accounts to get a

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<v Speaker 1>sense of what sort of business he'd be acquiring.

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<v Speaker 2>So I wasn't starting the shop out of absolutely nothing,

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<v Speaker 2>saying you know what this town needs is a frame shop. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>A yeah, That's how I got the shop by walking

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<v Speaker 2>downtown with a cup of coffee my handed, and then

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<v Speaker 2>I applied for the business loan and that was it.

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<v Speaker 1>When we come back from the break, John Bethel opens

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<v Speaker 1>his doors.

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<v Speaker 1>We're back with John Bethel, who, after years in the Navy,

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<v Speaker 1>moved up to the small city of Laconia, New Hampshire

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<v Speaker 1>to open a custom frame and printing shop.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, it's called Piedmont. Piedmont Print and Frame. So Piedmont

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<v Speaker 2>literally means foothills in French. And I figured that we

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<v Speaker 2>lived in the foothills of the Bellnet Mountains, and I

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<v Speaker 2>kind of wanted to honor where we were, where we

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<v Speaker 2>were located, and at the same time, I didn't want

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<v Speaker 2>to name it after myself, so I thought Piedmont would

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<v Speaker 2>be pretty cool. I could have called it Foothills. I

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<v Speaker 2>should have called it foothills. A lot of people think

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<v Speaker 2>that Piedmont is my last name, and so people downtown

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<v Speaker 2>have called me John Piedmont, which is one time somebody

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<v Speaker 2>walking down the street called said, hey, what's going on JP. So,

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<v Speaker 2>in attempting to not name it after myself, I've actually

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<v Speaker 2>named it after myself because a lot of people downtown

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<v Speaker 2>think that that's my name, and that's okay. It makes

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<v Speaker 2>me less searchable. Nice.

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<v Speaker 1>So in a way, you're sort of playing this character

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<v Speaker 1>of John Piedmont, the store owner, right, the.

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<v Speaker 2>Guy who like dons his aprin and like an old

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<v Speaker 2>Italian man, sweeps the sidewalk every morning when I go outside, Like,

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<v Speaker 2>I kind of like it. We all have a role

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<v Speaker 2>to play.

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<v Speaker 1>I suppose anyone who's lived in a small city or

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<v Speaker 1>town probably knows that feeling of having a role to play,

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<v Speaker 1>as if the community you live in was a big

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<v Speaker 1>theater production and you're just one of the characters on

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<v Speaker 1>its stage. John definitely felt that effect in Laconia, especially

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<v Speaker 1>as his business was located where the old framing shop was.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I was the little piece of paper that they

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<v Speaker 2>put the understudy paper that they put in the playbill.

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<v Speaker 2>Right now, Kevin used to be played by Kevin. Now

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<v Speaker 2>it's being played by Johnny.

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<v Speaker 1>But John did do things to let people know that

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<v Speaker 1>he was not the same store owner as before. For

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<v Speaker 1>one thing, he threw a lot of the old clutter

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<v Speaker 1>out and redesigned the place to be more inviting. And second,

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<v Speaker 1>when you walk into John's shop, you won't be met

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<v Speaker 1>with a generic Hi, how can I help you?

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<v Speaker 2>And it's annoying, right, Like you go to a store

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<v Speaker 2>and they say can I help you find something? No, like,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm just walking like, let me look. If you say

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<v Speaker 2>how can I help you? Know the relationship has become transactional.

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<v Speaker 2>And if it's become transactional, then that's how I'm going

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<v Speaker 2>to get out of you? Is this one transaction? And

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<v Speaker 2>so when people come in, you are to make yourself

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<v Speaker 2>the vulnerable one. And you say, you offer your name first,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, say what's your name? You go, hey, I'm John,

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<v Speaker 2>what's your name? And then they're like, hey, whatever, I'm

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<v Speaker 2>Avery And you go, okay, Hey, I was about to

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<v Speaker 2>make a cup of coffee, would you like one? I

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<v Speaker 2>was about to pour a beer, would you like one?

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<v Speaker 1>So you're saying you drink a lot all day, whether

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<v Speaker 1>it be caffeinated or alcoholic.

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<v Speaker 2>The rule is that I can only drink beer after

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<v Speaker 2>the glass has been cut. So if I learned that

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<v Speaker 2>the hard way, so once, once I crack a beer,

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<v Speaker 2>then we're not cutting any more. Last for the day.

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<v Speaker 2>So yes, something about doing it with you? Right? If

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<v Speaker 2>I just said do you want to beer? That's one thing.

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<v Speaker 2>But if I say I was about to have a beer,

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<v Speaker 2>do you want one? You're almost always going to say yes,

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<v Speaker 2>or a glass of prosecco? Right, and then eventually, look,

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<v Speaker 2>you have a poster rolled up under your arm. I

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<v Speaker 2>know what you're going to spend. Why rush to that

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<v Speaker 2>when I could build a relationship with you? And like

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<v Speaker 2>the glass of prosecco cost me maybe two bucks, But

0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.120
<v Speaker 2>that's not the important thing. The important thing is like

0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:29.120
<v Speaker 2>you've built a relationship and now they want to come back,

0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:30.480
<v Speaker 2>and then they tell their friends about it.

0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:34.600
<v Speaker 1>Probably the hardest part for John about walking away from

0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:38.320
<v Speaker 1>his Navy career were the relationships he built as a chaplain,

0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:42.560
<v Speaker 1>a position that brought John incredibly close with people who

0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:46.720
<v Speaker 1>were sharing their most intimate and vulnerable thoughts. But it

0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:50.560
<v Speaker 1>turns out that, unbeknownst to him, his new role as

0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:53.680
<v Speaker 1>a shop owner still involved dealing with people in their

0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:54.680
<v Speaker 1>times of need.

0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.320
<v Speaker 2>For wanting to walk away from being like an active priest.

0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.559
<v Speaker 2>It has not stopped, right, because people don't frame things

0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.319
<v Speaker 2>that are not important to them. Not only do they

0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:09.440
<v Speaker 2>not frame things that aren't important to them, but there's

0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:11.079
<v Speaker 2>a reason they're framing. It's because they want to show

0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:13.120
<v Speaker 2>it off, right, So now they have a story to tell.

0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:18.040
<v Speaker 2>And what do we do when we gather at during

0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.680
<v Speaker 2>the liturgy is we sit and listen to stories.

0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.040
<v Speaker 1>John remembers one time a woman brought a fork into

0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:25.560
<v Speaker 1>the shop.

0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:30.199
<v Speaker 2>Her mom died, and everyone else in her family like hungry,

0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:32.480
<v Speaker 2>hungry hippos. They just sort of grabbed whatever was there,

0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:37.000
<v Speaker 2>and what was left was this sterling silver fork. So

0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:39.360
<v Speaker 2>she framed it. She's like, well, this is what I got,

0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:41.800
<v Speaker 2>you know, from my mom. But then like I looked

0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:43.440
<v Speaker 2>at it and like if you looked at the times

0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.240
<v Speaker 2>of the fork, the one on the side was more

0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.920
<v Speaker 2>worn down and it was sharper, Like that was the

0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:50.719
<v Speaker 2>fork that she used, you know when you scramble legs

0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:53.560
<v Speaker 2>with a fork. That was her cooking fork. And so

0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:55.560
<v Speaker 2>it wasn't just a fork from the dinner table that

0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:57.400
<v Speaker 2>got used once a year. I was like, hey, like,

0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.840
<v Speaker 2>this is your mom's cooking fork. For what it's worth.

0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:01.199
<v Speaker 2>This is the most. This is the one that she

0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:02.679
<v Speaker 2>used the most. This is the one that has been

0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:05.080
<v Speaker 2>infused with your mouth more than anything. Right, And so

0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.000
<v Speaker 2>like I think that that doesn't happen if somebody walks

0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:09.480
<v Speaker 2>in the door and you say, how can I help you?

0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.839
<v Speaker 2>So it does become secret, it does become a holy

0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:13.800
<v Speaker 2>moment of sharing.

0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:19.000
<v Speaker 1>So as John says, sometimes your parish is a military base,

0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:23.800
<v Speaker 1>and sometimes it's in your frame and print shop over

0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:27.080
<v Speaker 1>a beer, looking at a fork or a tile from

0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:31.680
<v Speaker 1>Mexico or whatever it is that people bring in wanting

0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:32.520
<v Speaker 1>to cherish.

0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.120
<v Speaker 2>I tried for the first six months of telling absolutely

0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:38.720
<v Speaker 2>nobody that I was an episcopal priest. That did not

0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.240
<v Speaker 2>work at all. Like, it did not last. Like I

0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.559
<v Speaker 2>was like, nope, I'm a shop order, Like that is it.

0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:47.880
<v Speaker 2>I'm not doing any of that stuff. And eventually who

0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:50.080
<v Speaker 2>you are and what you're supposed to be he starts

0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:52.400
<v Speaker 2>seeping out of you, right that there's something about you

0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:53.480
<v Speaker 2>that you're supposed to be doing.

0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.240
<v Speaker 1>While John loves the relationships he gets to build in

0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:00.240
<v Speaker 1>his shop, he also appreciates that at the the end

0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.040
<v Speaker 1>of the day, unlike that duty phone he had to

0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.840
<v Speaker 1>carry around when he was in the Navy, that he

0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:08.000
<v Speaker 1>gets to leave work at work.

0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:11.400
<v Speaker 2>So the reason that I thought about having a shop

0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:13.840
<v Speaker 2>was that I fell in love with the idea of

0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.000
<v Speaker 2>looking at the clock and saying it's five o'clock, it's

0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:18.720
<v Speaker 2>closing time, it's quitting time, and locking the door and

0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.320
<v Speaker 2>walking away. I mean, my printing press is it's eleven

0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:24.040
<v Speaker 2>hundred pounds of CAFs iron, Like you can't take a

0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.000
<v Speaker 2>work on them, you know. And I don't have a

0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:30.440
<v Speaker 2>glass cutter at my house. So you like, whatever's done

0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:32.880
<v Speaker 2>is done. Whenever's not done has not been done. But

0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:37.280
<v Speaker 2>at five o'clock you're locking the doors and whatever it is,

0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:39.480
<v Speaker 2>like that diploma from Kent State is going to wait

0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:41.320
<v Speaker 2>till tomorrow, like it's going to be fine.

0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.560
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes John doesn't even wait till five o'clock to shut

0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.520
<v Speaker 1>the doors, because, as he learned in Greece, there are

0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.040
<v Speaker 1>times when life comes before business, like the time a

0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.600
<v Speaker 1>friend of his showed up in swim trunks and said

0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:54.680
<v Speaker 1>he was headed to the lake.

0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.160
<v Speaker 2>It was the nicest day we had had in a while,

0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:58.800
<v Speaker 2>but we had a lot of rien that year, and

0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:00.960
<v Speaker 2>I just remember hearing you guys are swimming in the lake.

0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.600
<v Speaker 2>Cool here I go, I put a note that it

0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:06.600
<v Speaker 2>said God's swimming and you should be too. And even

0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.800
<v Speaker 2>now I don't remember all those times that I worked

0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.800
<v Speaker 2>super late or the times that I tried to crank

0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.640
<v Speaker 2>out frames in time. But I do remember one day

0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.680
<v Speaker 2>three years ago that I closed the shop and went swimming.

0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:23.560
<v Speaker 1>Right After three years in operation, Piedmont Printon Frame is

0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:26.800
<v Speaker 1>doing well, well enough that John has taken on a

0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:29.640
<v Speaker 1>coworker and some interns to help him meet the now

0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:30.920
<v Speaker 1>steady work orders.

0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:33.480
<v Speaker 2>She went to school for graphic design. She has a

0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:35.600
<v Speaker 2>better eye than I do, and she's very good at

0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:38.520
<v Speaker 2>what she does, and so it's been great having her.

0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:41.920
<v Speaker 1>And a few of those interns have been military folks,

0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.880
<v Speaker 1>much like John once did, are navigating that tricky transition

0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:48.640
<v Speaker 1>from service to civilian life.

0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:50.560
<v Speaker 2>I'm on my fifth intern now and it's been an

0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:53.360
<v Speaker 2>amazing thing where I know that in New Hampshire we

0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:55.840
<v Speaker 2>have a lot of sometimes people in their twenties and

0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.600
<v Speaker 2>thirties don't end up sticking around, and I really like

0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:02.520
<v Speaker 2>that now through this program, I have two veterans now

0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.200
<v Speaker 2>that we're not from here, that now live here in

0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:08.240
<v Speaker 2>town and they go to Plymouth State, or they go

0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:11.160
<v Speaker 2>to Lakes Region Community College, or one of them is

0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:12.760
<v Speaker 2>going to want to work for the fire department and

0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:14.320
<v Speaker 2>the other one works for the parks Department.

0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.280
<v Speaker 1>And with the extra help around the shop, John now

0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.480
<v Speaker 1>has more time to be part of the community, time

0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.840
<v Speaker 1>to be the new chaplain at the Laconia Firehouse, time

0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:28.560
<v Speaker 1>to volunteer with the local youth hockey team, or simply

0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:32.400
<v Speaker 1>just time to stroll around his adopted hometown of Laconia

0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.720
<v Speaker 1>in New Hampshire with a coffee cup in hand, saying

0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:37.200
<v Speaker 1>hi to his neighbors.

0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:40.320
<v Speaker 2>I think it's weird because they come from such a

0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:43.240
<v Speaker 2>big city that like here it does. I mean, there's

0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:45.560
<v Speaker 2>only a few thousand people in town, and yeah, like

0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:49.680
<v Speaker 2>you cannot walk from one end of main Street to

0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.000
<v Speaker 2>the next one without either being stopped or without finding

0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:53.960
<v Speaker 2>a reason to stop and say hi to somebody.

0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:59.320
<v Speaker 1>And John Bethel aka Johnny Piedmont wouldn't have it any

0:16:59.360 --> 0:16:59.880
<v Speaker 1>other way.

0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.760
<v Speaker 2>It's nice, like it's just it's nice, like you feel

0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:04.720
<v Speaker 2>like you belong somewhere.

0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:08.440
<v Speaker 1>The only thing he's got to be careful about is driving,

0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.720
<v Speaker 1>because those New York City habits of his die hard.

0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:15.320
<v Speaker 2>I have to remind myself that everyone knows my car

0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.280
<v Speaker 2>and I can't flip out or drive on the shoulder

0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.040
<v Speaker 2>because you're in my way. So as far as that goes, yeah,

0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.200
<v Speaker 2>it does help me to be a better human being.

0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:27.520
<v Speaker 1>For on the job, I'm Avery Thompson.