Champions of Vocational Skills
As the world prepares for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Korea, some competitors flex their skills in other fields. Not everyone is a superstar of winter athletics like downhill skiing, speedskating, or ice hockey. Very few of us are top contestants at math, spelling, trivia, hacking, or other games of the mind. Most people never will be featured on any globally-televised singing, talent, or beauty shows either.
Yet we all have our own skill sets. To be great at anything is a reward in itself.
By broadening the criteria, we get all sorts of weird championships. Did you know there is an Air Sex World Championship where people compete to simulate the best fake sexual experience? There was a World Sauna Championship in Scandinavia, but they cancelled it after people started dying of heart attacks. Toe wrestling, bog snorkeling, stone skipping, mobile phone throwing, and various championship eating competitions are some other fun ones. For this post, I’ll focus on occupational competitions.
Yes, it really is a thing, but we're not going there this time. Creative Commons via Flickr by Jeannette.
Many people around the world make their livings in job fields that can be considered vocational. For some, like a young lady waitressing to pay her way through college, the jobs may be stepping stones to other careers. For others, like an auto detailer who opens up his own business, they are lifelong occupations.
Some strive to be ‘the best that they can be’ in their occupations.
Valet Olympics
The top valets must be great at packing a trunk with luggage, driving through crowded lots, and fitting a car in a tight spot. Here is some footage of a regional training for the valet championships.
World Bartender Championships
We all know a great bartender. The best ones can pour an amazing drink and their unique add a flash of style. Many bartenders double as psychiatrists, though those skills are not as flashy as the tricks these ones play. Here are some highlights from the 2017 TGIF World Bartender Championships.
Hairdressing Championships
Yes, I’ll show them to you in a minute, but first you must see this! It’s a video of the 1968 World Hairdressing Championships, which is only one minute long. The next video show the OMC Hair World Championship from a recent year in Frankfurt. Notice the changes: from black & white to color and from live human subjects to dummies. If they can put a Steemit logo in there, count me in.
Sheep Shearing
Wool is a big industry worldwide and the stuff doesn’t grow on trees. It grows on sheep and they need haircuts, too. Sheep shearing is a valuable skill in many rural areas. I have seen these live several times. Here is footage from the Rural Games in New Zealand during the shearing competition.
Best Bagger
Let’s not forget the all-important skill of packing groceries into a bag. It’s like playing Tetris, except that baggers must also consider what items are fragile, hot, cold, and heavy, packing accordingly. This has become even more challenging in the era of reusable bags, which often come in different sizes. Here is a video of the final round at the Best Bagger competition that is sponsored by the National Grocers Association in the U.S. each year.
I’m a Lumberjack and I’m Okay
You get extra credit for identifying the above reference, but I’ll spoil it by including a video of the Monty Python song as well (2nd video link below). If you’ve never seen a lumberjack show, you’re missing one of life’s great pleasures. But you can make it up by watching this entertaining video of the 2016 Lumberjack World Championship in Hayward, Wisconsin. Axes, chainsaws, log-rolling, scaling a pole, and more: it’s all in here. Yes, there are lumberjills in this one also!
Training for Great Careers
Organizations WorldSkills promote training and partnerships for young people in technical and vocational careers. Here’s a brief overview of the 2015 WorldSkills competition in Brazil. It’s like a vocational Olympics.
With so many jobs disappearing in today’s economy, here’s hoping that the governments, school systems, and training programs look to the future to prepare people for great careers.
Let’s quit on a high note. I wasn’t going to include talent shows, but this guy from Malawi is a good comedian and did quite well on this top British show. Considering he gave up a career in computer programming to tell jokes, comedy can be a serious occupation also!
Encore!
Just one more and I promise it's the last video. How about a final dose of magic? After all, there must be a small handful of jobs in the world for professional magicians. It's not at the top of most lists, but I'm fairly sure there are more jobs for musicians than for astronomers and poets.
Sources:
Parking for Gold: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/01/parking-for-gold/549407/
World Sauna Championships: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Sauna_Championships
Best Bagger: http://www.nationalgrocers.org/special-programs/best-bagger
Olympics of Skills, Abu Dhabi: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/singapore-bags-two-golds-at-olympics-of-skills
Floral Design Championships: http://www.flowerweb.com/en/topic/Floral-design-Championships
Weirdest World Championships: http://www.neatorama.com/2012/10/03/10-of-Weirdest-World-Championships-Around/
Top image: Public domain from Pixabay.
This sounds really fun ..
The fact that the secret of success at this time open in various fields is your devotion to your work and your love for it.
Watch these talents. Make one excited to his work.
Really enjoyed Thanks ..
People are amazing. I love watching those compilations of how skilled the human body really is. I was not blessed with above average ability, you must dedicate yourself to finding it. Nice post!
Yeah, it was really cool. As I was reading, I was like, "But what about lumberjacks?". Then, there they were. Yodeling too. It's awesome. I'm surprised eating competitions didn't end up on here or polar bearing. I guess the point though is not to name as many as you can, but to point out the absurdity humans will go to for attention.
My wish is world peace
Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hourse of beating on your craft. These are champion of their field.
True. Some people have more natural talent than others, but in other cases I think it can be nurtured and developed. You are correct that most training is for skills, though.
Well said. Actucally everyone has something special talent. Just have to do hard work and need to try to do something creative. @donkeypong @kartiksingh
Yes @donkeypong, thank God for a community like this where i m given the opportunity to show my talent... this is where i want to nurture my talent, my blog is a music blog where i do cover songs, i ll be most grateful if you visit my blog, you won't be disappointed... and i m open to corrections. Thanks for sharing @donkeypong
everyone has their own strengths and talents, it's just that we have to develop ourselves.
Well said. Actucally everyone has something special talent. Just have to do hard work and need to try to do something creative. @donkeypong @kartiksingh
yes steady bro
I agree, the talent that these people have is very good and it shows that they have perfected it with hours and hours of practice, a true inspiration.
but talent or not the skill wont grow if ur not working hard especially as an artist/painter ppl keep saying " aw u have it easy ur so talented" its not like the "skill" fell from sky hit my head and i knew what im doing there for nothing xD would be awesome tho
There are two type of people.
1 GOD gifted talented
2 Get talented by their hard work.
if we weak in doing something but we like to do that thing,then we should try it again and again until we get success in mastering that thing or skill.
that's the way life goes.Thanks for sharking beautiful examples of talented people. :)
Following you for more beautiful posts like this ..
Thanks :) @donkeypong
true champions.
Nice narration!
In my opinion, one of the best skills is honesty skills. Honest and trustworthy people will be winners, though not in the real world. This skill does not need a champion!
On the one hand, having worked in supermarkets and retail stores, the competitive bagging engendered some not so positive feelings. But, at the same time, the people taking part were clearly skilled within the confines of the task they specialized in and taking the whole thing quite seriously. There's almost a zen quality in committing to do such a banal task extremely well.
At the end of the day, everyone wants to be treated with dignity and respect in whatever they're doing, and those people seem to be receiving that, even if the context is not intuitive to me. So far be it from me to speak ill of the competition.
Well said. If it makes people feel good about themselves and their place in the world (as long as it doesn't hurt anyone or limit their potential somehow), then it's probably a good thing.
Hi Tom..we can't access steemitchat to tell u guys that we have slowed down with our uv till the bayanihan vp have recovered. Cheers.
Chat has been nearly unusable these last couple of days. Thanks for letting me know, but I always trust you to handle the curation; regenerating voting power is important also.
Thank you..we're on fb chat shhh.
Its interesting to get to see the different types of talents and skills. Our talents are all unique and special.
Very correct. These skills are either worked on or inbuilt. But what i ask myself is the idea of education has really seen reasons developing these vocational skill and reward given. But i feel there are several other hidden skill that has to be looked into and if developed ans brought to lime light it can lead to economic development. But in general i adnire the fact few least skill is getting recognisation.
Each society needs some means of identifying and nurturing talent, but not in a way that limits people from growing in other ways if they want to do so.
That's true...talents gots no boundaries just as choosing a life one wish to live but i feel lack if recognisation silence these persons and instead the society too makes it feel no certification no life
I am sure, they are spent hours on training to get that skill. In Aceh, Indonesia, the baristas practice mixing the right mix of coffee, sugar and milk to produce a sanger cup. Sanger is a kind of capucino made in Aceh with a distinctive aroma of coffee.
very precisely comrades, so in aceh mushrooming coffee shop is not enough two door five doors there is a coffee shop