It's trying to be spring here and you know what that means, right? Messes! So as the whole world (in Minnesota) is thawing, they try to clean up the messes that winter has left behind. As I was walking back to work after a quick coffee run last week, I saw a custodian-type worker at a hotel doing just that. He was taking down some wintery/Christmas type greens arrangements that were outside the hotel, but he did it in a way that just made every ounce of my body scream, "Hasn't there got to be a better way to do that?!"
See, he was painstakingly slow. He would take the least amount of greens he could carry, then uproot it from the arrangement, carry it gingerly around the corner of the building and to the dumpster where he would slowly toss it in. Then he would plod back to the front of the building and repeat the process. It was ridiculous. In the 2 minutes I watched him, I thought of 5 different ways he could have finished that job in 1/4 the amount of time it would take him to do it the way he was doing it. For instance, why didn't he just get a large garbage bag, load it up with greens, then carry the whole bag to the dumpster??? How hard is that?
This whole situation lead me to think, that's what makes the difference between him and me. Between them and us... Let me explain.
There are people in this life who think about everything. They decide a good way to do the task at hand, then execute it. They plan ahead, looking for better ways to do it in the future. They accept and embrace change when it's better and more efficient. They get promoted, starting at the bottom and working their way up.
Then there are people who do everything the "easiest" way. If one handful of greens is all they want to muster, then gosh darnit, that's all they're going to carry! Brainstorming is not something they participate in and they never think of a better way. That would require too much effort. They don't get promoted, but remain custodians until their middle aged and wonder why life hasn't given them more.
Hmmmm... something to think about.
That's why it made me smile to see an old-fashioned neighborhood birthday party the other day. I knew something was up when I pulled in the parking area to see that there was a barbecue happening. Mmmmmm... grilled chicken. Furthermore, I knew it was a special day when I walked in the building and smelled some greens frying. But it all made sense when I saw the birthday girl--she was decked out in her prettiest robin's egg blue tee shirt, and had 2 crisp bills pinned to her chest--$10! Of course turning 10 was great, but just imagine how awesome it will be when she turns 20, (or so she thinks now)!
