Getting my hands dirty

27 February 2010

Ambassador Bleich with the grand champion Merino sheep at the Royal Canberra Show.

Today I added another unusual chapter to the strange, and strangely interesting, experience of being an ambassador. Not only did we have a good family day, but I will never look at my suits the same way again.

Our family spent the morning at the Royal Canberra Show, where I’d been invited to sash the winning Poll Hereford bull and the grand champion Merino sheep. The show was far grander than any state fair or livestock show that I’d ever been to in the States. In addition to several stands for judging livestock, there was everything from fashion shows to amusement park rides to a shopping mall (we purchased more than our share of Cadbury chocolate “show bags”), exhibits, horse and buggy races, produce displays, demolition derby, diving pigs, and motorcycle jumps. We toured the whole range of activities with the president of the show, Rod Crompton and his wife Leonie.

It’s too easy in modern society not to think about where our meals come from or how clothes are made. But every day we make decisions that have a dramatic effect on these issues, and change markets in ways that affect lives and livelihoods. One example is my suit. As a lawyer, I wore suits ever day, but starting about 10 years ago, not many other lawyers did. They’d have one suit for court or important meetings, but generally worked in their offices in casual clothes. On weekends, instead of wearing thick wool coats, they began opting for lightweight synthetic fabrics. These consumer choices gutted much of the wool industry worldwide. Australia, for example, went from having 180 million head of sheep in the 1960s and 70s to only about 80 million today, and the breeds and types of wool they produce are dramatically different.

As I watched the judges examine the merino sheep, they explained to me how they examined the thickness or length of the sheep’s coat (the “staple”), the size and consistency of the crimp in each strand (which helps the wool hold dye), and the fineness of the strands. The judges explained that people like me who have to wear a suit to work, are driving demand for fine and superfine merino sheep wool. They even introduced me to a few handsome rams who, they believed, might be responsible for one of my suits in the future (if I’m lucky). While the final choice of a grand champion was tough (we left it to the experts), we ultimately settled on a very impressive — and loud – ewe.

By the end of the day, my jeans and boots were covered with dust, my hands were thick with lanolin and other natural hide oils, my shirt smelled like I’d been judging livestock, and I had a better sense than ever before of how much hard work it takes to get each of us cleaned, fed, and dressed for work.