Happy Sunday Everyone:
It’s been a great four days. Thursday/Friday Kim and I visited one of my favorite humans, Jeremy Forcier and his wife, Cara (also great). Many of you know Jeremy, to say his personality and attitude for living a high-quality life is infectious, would be an understatement. We left their home yesterday morning and drove straight to the airport to surprise another great friend for his 50th. On the way to the airport, we talked about Jeremy’s energy, how he treats everyone around him, like they’re special. Kim then brought up a situation that happened last week. Kim was grabbing Thomas his favorite sandwich at our local grocery store. Kim walked up to the counter, looked at the guy and asked if she could order a sandwich. Out of nowhere, another guy says, “he’s just the janitor maam, I’ll be with you in a moment”. Kim was explaining the uncomfortable silence to me, how bad she felt for the situation, and for the janitor.
“He’s just the janitor”. Kim explaining this made me angry. No one is “just” anything. No one should be explained as “just …….” Everyone is something, everyone is someone, and should be treated as such. One of my favorite quotes for our boys as a life lesson is “how you do anything is how you do everything”. To me it’s a rally cry for strong habits, a reminder to put your best foot forward in all that you do. It’s not just for the boys, I need the reminder too. Sitting here thinking about this event that took place with Kim, I’d like to modify this great quote and change it to “how you treat anyone is how you treat everyone”. The world isn’t perfect and nor am I but having a reminder in our minds that no one is beneath us, is important. I get this might sound Pollyanna but it’s a simple fact, treat everyone with respect. Why not go out of our way to make anyone feel special, to feel like a useful member of society. As a team we talk about being an asset or liability in every decision we make. Big picture, every encounter we have with any other human is an asset or liability decision. Showing respect for anyone is an asset-based decision, treating anyone without respect is a liability decision. Why would you choose to be a liability when it’s so simple to be an asset? My buddy Jeremey is an asset to strangers, which is why people want to be around him. I married an asset. After the sandwich incident, Kim tracked down the janitor to make sure to say hello and ask how his day was going.
The greatest man I’ve ever known was a janitor. He is my dad. After college he cleaned my mom’s classroom. He’d leave her love notes when she got back to school to teach the next morning, all the time. God bless the janitors. Let’s give a little extra effort to make the people that serve us and help us feel great about what they do, it matters!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.