“Knowing the Cleaning Lady”
During my second month of college in Virginia, my professor gives
us a pop quiz in sociology. I am a
conscientious student who, at that time, breezes through questions; today is no
different. Then I come to the last one:
What
is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?
I keep thinking that surely this is a joke by the professor. I do see the cleaning lady every day; she is
tall with dark hair in her mid-40s, but I barely have time to meet random
people, how am I to know her name?
I hand my paper in speechless, leaving the question blank. Just before our class wraps up, one student
actually has the embarrassing nerve to ask if such a pointless “last question”
counts towards our grade. “Absolutely”
says our professor:
In
your careers, you will many people. Each
and every one of these people you meet will hold a great deal of significance
in and through your life. As such, they
all deserve your full attention & care, even if the only think you do is smile,
say
hello, and introduce yourself.
I have never forgotten his lesson behind our test that day. The next day I came to learn her name was Sue Henley.
