his week I’m the biggest fan of the man who was cleaning the elevator on Monday morning. The condo we live in has the shiniest elevators – and now I know why – there is a man who comes and polishes them, shining up the already sparkling, stainless steel walls.
I had just taken Graham outside and we were coming back in. The door opened, and there was the man with a bucket and lots of cleaning supplies. I was hesitant to get in because I could see that he had the walls of the elevator sprayed down and he was in the thick of the process.
But he greeted us enthusiastically and insisted that we come inside. Instead of treating us like the annoyance that we probably were, a barrier between him and his task, he bent down and started cooing all of these Spanish phrases to Graham. He kept clapping and clicking, trying to get Graham to come over so he could pet him. (Unfortunately, Graham’s skittish rescue-dog tendencies were in full-force and he huddled close to me like a shy Pre-K student. Alas.)
Here’s the thing: to this nice man, we weren’t an annoyance at all. He treated us like we were the best thing to happen to him his entire morning. That has to be one of the secrets to life – to keep people (and cute animals in this case) at the top of your list.
Shining up the walls of the elevator can wait, but that cute little pup is going to be here and gone before you know it. So thankful that he reminded me of this lesson. I only thought to get a picture of him when it was too late, and the elevator doors had shut. However, let’s be real – my portrait of him is basically up to Mona Lisa standards.
Wonderful man cleaning the elevator, I’m your biggest fan!
Who are you a big fan of these days? Is someone in your life keeping people at the top of their list? Shout them out in the comments and I’ll choose one random person to get some fan mail (see what I did there?). Once I’ve chosen the person, I’ll email you to ask for their address – so just make sure you know a good way to reach them! Let’s team up!
My good friend Amie is fighting the good fight with USAID in Washington DC, working harder than anyone I know, all while keeping a beautiful smile on her face. I am a huge fan of her attitude, her commitment, and pretty much everything she stands for.
Amazing. Thank God for people like Amie! She sounds like a great candidate for some mail art. Thanks for shouting her out, Clare, I’ll let this post stew for a couple more days and then I may be contacting you for her address!
I love encounters with people like that! My students are always reminding me of that too, that rather than grading their papers or making the best and most awesome speaking activity, just being there for them and supporting them is most important.
At this moment, I’m preparing for my trip home to America, and once again, my supervisor at work is going above and beyond in making sure everything goes smoothly. She is going to drive me to the airport, so I don’t have to risk getting stuck in the snow on a train. We also had a discussion last weekend about some issues at my school. She drove all the way to my apartment on a weekend just to make sure we’d have time to properly talk about it. She always makes a priority of people feel comfortable and at home. Definitely a huge inspiration to me!
Are you going to leave a note of fanfare in the elevator? :)
Your supervisor sounds amazing! What a comfort that she’s so dependable and willing to go out of her way for your success – I’m sure this is especially needed when you’re oceans away from your family and friends. I think I’m going to send out two pieces of fanfare mail art for this post and she must be one of them! I’ll email you to ask for her address. :)
Alas, a note of fanfare in the elevator would be so good but they have cameras EVERYWHERE in our building and I’m afraid they’d be suspicious! Maybe I’m just paranoid, but I’ve heard that they hand out fines rather handily sometimes…high rise living!