The Man Called Sir (With Love)

As a counterpoint to yesterday's email I thought I would write about an individual that simply makes me happy, a man I'll call Sir.

He's our janitor.

Sir isn't from Canada originally, but I can't think of a better poster boy for immigration. He's the hardest worker at the lemonade stand; he's also the proudest. This is why Canada's doors should always be open to people from other countries - sometimes they're a great improvement over the population that's been born into entitlement and laziness.

Sir's English isn't perfect, he's also hard of hearing, so communication can sometimes be tricky. His smile, though, is broad and happy every single day. When I'm having a crappy day at work I often look at Sir and get inspired to work a little harder, be a little happier, and just get the job done. Like he does.

He's the first janitor we've ever had and he's really done amazing work cleaning up the stand. All the shelves are dusted, the floor swept, the lemons polished - he works 7 days a week, 9 hours a day. That's two days, two hours longer a day, than everyone else.

When he first started we all felt a little spoiled at having a janitor and a number of us tried to empty our garbage can's when he came around with his giant garbage receptacle at the end of the day. The first time he took it from me, smiled and emptied it himself and nodded when I said thank you. The second day was the same. By the third day Sir had decided to set me straight. He simply motioned no and took the garbage can himself. Then he turned to me and said, "You." and motioned typing on a keyboard. Then he said, "Me." and motioned to the large receptacle. The pride in his smile told me I should not feel guilt that this older man was doing a menial task because this was not a menial task. He does good, honest, hard work and that's what matters at the end of the day. He makes far less money than me -I wish there was some way I could get him a raise!- but he is rewarded in the knowledge that his work matters, is appreciated by thank you's throughout the day, and the satisfaction that comes in knowing hard work is it's own reward. No paycheque or job title can ever compare to that.

I may not be the biggest fan of Boss, who I will sometimes be too hard on it (I'm torn because he so often deserves scrutiny and criticism) but there are some people who I simply love because they show me spirit and dedication that I sometimes find lacking in myself.

So that's Sir. He's awesome.

Bee!