Wednesday 20 June 2012

Perspective

I'm just as guilty as everyone else of losing perspective.  My life seems very difficult sometimes - running around to multiple hospitals trying to take care of people, two small active children who drive me crazy, mortgage payments, car payments, malpractice insurance premiums, sick patients...it's enough to make me crazy.  Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm juggling chainsaws, and at any time one of them may fall and cut my arm off, and I'd need the services of a trauma surgeon...if only I could find one.

But just when it seems like my life is rough, I run into a gentleman at one of my hospitals who happens to be on the janitorial staff.  He's probably in his 40s or 50's, quite tall, very perky, and always happy.  His job is collecting hazardous trash from various parts of the hospital, depositing it into large carts, and then transporting it to the larger bins outside.  And yet in the 4 years I've known him, I've never once seen him in a bad mood.  He always greets me with a huge smile and a "Hey Doc, how are things with you today?  I'm doing just great!"

Think about that - this man's job is carting hospital waste, and he's ALWAYS HAPPY and always ready to cheer me up.

It's people like this man who really give me a new outlook on things.  If someone who works with trash can be happy all the time, why can't I?  When I'm feeling most frustrated, I think about that, and him, and it makes me smile.

4 comments:

  1. Hey Doc! I used to work for a staffing service. I interviewed a woman and the only job I had to offer her was an overnight cleaning crew position which happily accepted. She was thrilled to work from 10PM-6AM, literally scrubbing toilets for less than $9/hour. On Fridays when we passed out paychecks she would come in and smile and hug me tightly and even call me her angel, for the job that most people would rather go on welfare than do. On my last day she showed up with a dozen roses, a bracelet, and insisted on taking me out to dinner. That night she took me to a local hamburger place and she and her husband spent the entire time thanking me for the job. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life and every time I start to feel ungrateful, I think back to her joy of a custodial job.

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    Replies
    1. I was having a worrisome, crappy day, and then I read this. Put a big, big smile on my face. Thanks for sharing. :)

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  2. I think it is amazing that someone could find such happiness from that kind of job and just as amazing that there are so many people put there that can't seem to appreciate what they do for us. I wonder why so many people can't seem to think that happiness does not revolve around possessions and the money you make or the amount of prestige associated with the job you have or house you live in. This story made me smile and gave me some food or thought.

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  3. I know what you mean, I work in a coffee shop inside a hospital and there is this wards man, radar (we all call him that since he looks like radar from M.A.S.H) will come by and we start singing together, and it's really great because I can see patients/ visitors / staff who were angry or upset light up and laugh or smile and it just makes me so happy to know the effect of a little bit of off key singing can do

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