janitor

When you ask somebody their occupation and they reply with "custodian", there is usually a cringe, a pause and then a dash of sympathy. Nobody wants to clean up after other people. Being a janitor isn't a 'respected' job. It's not practicing law or medicine-- it isn't a dirty job that gets congratulated like being a CNA or something like that. Let's face it, janitorial work is field of work that nobody wants to do and hopes that they never have to. Well guess what, folks? I AM A JANITOR. (I feel like this is kind of an alcoholic anonymous thingy :) ) I work for the university and help prepare venues for events. I'm technically Event Operations, but I basically do cleaning similar to what a janitor or custodian would do. The people I work with are phenomenal, my supervisors ROCK, and this has definitely been one of my favorite jobs so far. I'm not planning on being a janitor for the rest of my life. It isn't my life calling, but as of right now it is a really good, steady job that I actually enjoy. I'm not saying that I like to clean up after lazy slobs, but my job has given me a lot of experiences that have proven very helpful in my day to day life. I'm learning SO many skills that I will use for a lifetime.

This is kind of a weird post, right? I promise I'm going somewhere with this. But before I get to my main point I want to tell a story:

So a few weeks ago I was at one of the venues we provide just making sure that things were going well for this one group that rented the place. I was there to check that the bathrooms were stocked and also to be there in case there was an emergency. So the event goes smoothly, and then it is time for the clean-up group to come in and clean the venue. I'm waiting for the group to come together and this woman comes up to me and snarkily asks if I am the 'janitor'. I said yes and asked her if I could help her with something and she told me that there was a popcorn spill that she really wanted to get on top of. I told her to sit tight because there were rules and directions that I needed to go over, and let's just say that after that moment, everything went downhill. I'm not exactly sure why these people were so frustrated; they knew what they were supposed to do, but from that moment on they called me a janitor like it was some kind of insult. It honestly made me feel awful. It was a rough night and I was already feeling super down from a crazy, stressful week. I didn't know these people personally, and what they said shouldn't have bothered me, but it did. They were making assumptions based on my job and judged me for it. It honestly sucked. I came home to my hubs and he had to talk me up and tell me a million times that what they said didn't matter, that I would most likely never see them again, and people that you don't know don't matter. It was what I needed to hear then. 

It wasn't until the next day that I remembered an awesome blogger Al Carraway. She is an amazing example of "don't judge a book by its cover". This thought hit me like a brick. IT MADE SENSE! These people were judging me because they didn't know me! They don't know all of the things that I've done, they don't know the stresses and hardships that I have dealt with or am currently dealing with. They don't know who I was or what I want to become. They don't know me. 

How many times have you judged someone you don't know? I know I have wrongfully judged people. Most of us have. We are continually making maps of people, trying our best to make sense of who they are, but many times our assumptions are wrong. We are all human, we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. We all have the ability to be nice, so why not do it? 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't judge people. Don't treat someone badly because of their work, religion, beliefs, or just because you can. You never know who is having a rough time, so just be nice. It's always fun to be the person that brightens somebody else's day. 

xoxo