Intervention Perfomance 2

Shawn Bellamy

Doris Cacoilo

Acts of Resistance

15 November 2023

Intervention Performance II : 'No Pain, No Gain'

         With being susceptible and finding influence from many of the art forms, and acts of activism we've continuously examined in class, I find it more than fitting to introduce my own art activism , but in performance style. My performance is in video format, and showcases the unexplainable strength, pride, and power one can have when you overcome your fears. The idea or act of challenging the impossible or the far-fetched may come off as intimidating, but when it's done, it's so rewarding to the soul, and ways of life. I am living proof of challenging that challenge, and I want to share that challenge in hopes for viewers to cling onto that influence. Hopefully you all can and to challenge your own fears! I now have this lingering sense of ability in all aspects of life, and I want people to feel that feeling that's so unexplainable. 

        My challenge wasn't something that was required nor was it pushed against me, but it was something that looked cool and I wanted to be apart of it. It was becoming a can loader for the wide body planes at my job. I work for United Airlines , and the can loader position essentially takes care of loading the cargo for the wide body planes, the big girls. This position isn't something that is required to fulfill the job, but is there for people who are seeking extra opportunities within the job. Within my job, the can loader position is rarely sought because of how loud, big and heavy the can loader actually is. So you can imagine, how intimidating the position would be. Furthermore, if you weren't to correctly lock the cargos into place, it may result in a weight imbalance while inflight, and you would then be at the hands of killing 300 people. All of these traits regarding the can loader scared me too , but I knew I still wanted to try it.

        After long thought and consideration , I signed up for the can loader training in the summer of 2023, and was beyond excited , and still scared to start. The training was a week long , and everything was going good until my last day of training, where I unfortunately got hurt on the can loader. While downloading one of the flights, a fellow trainee didn't notice me in the doorway of the 767, and he proceeded to move the cans my way. This act forced my head between one of the cans and the fuselage of the jet. I screamed in agony as he moved the cans back in the opposite direction , where my head was finally released from the jam. If he were to push the cans any further, I would've probably never had the chance to even talk about the incident. Long story short, I was brought to the airport hospital where I was treated for my headache and small knot on the right side of my head. And, post that incident, I removed myself from the can loader training because I was even more frightened than I already was from the start. I even told my friend that  Stepping on the can loader again , was something that seemed impossible, because of my new level of fear for it. 

        Fast forwarding to the fall of 2023, I am now an official can loader! After recovering from my injury, and even telling my friends I would never of the training again,  I returned to work within a week, and quickly realized that I still had envy for the position. That envy was at the hands of not giving up. I had a sit-down with my mom and she hauled the idea of me finishing the training. Specifically , she said that "the position wouldn't be gained in the first place if I didn't have any pain in the process". I'm assuming she tried to allude to the famous saying, "no pain, no gain". This stuck with me because post injury, I truly let the idea of pains and fear overcome my body, which led to resistance. This is something that I originally wanted to do, and I let a bad patch of it get the best of me. My mom led me off that fear path, and this is why I pursued the training once again. With everything we face or take on, there will be a few bumps, but I think it's important to hurl over those bumps and continue on with the race. Just because something you want to pursue may appear hard, or impossible, that shouldn't halt you from chasing the things you want in this life! It's time for us to remain resilient, strong and level-headed because everything we do in this life will come with a challenge here or there. It's our jobs to challenge those challenges , and to let the next person now that anything they want to pursue in this life,  is more than possible! Challenging the challenge, and beating it is so rewarding than you'll ever know! I mean only if you don't it! So I demand YOU to challenge that challenge because , I couldn't be more happier, proud, and prideful for facing my fears and fulfilling the can loader position!