"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
When we first moved to this area eight years ago, we happened to discover a restaurant that featured an "all-you-can-eat" pizza buffet. The pizza wasn't the best I have ever had, and the selection of choices was about average as well, but the price was right, so we sat down and began to eat way too much pizza.
At some point during the meal, we began to hear the normal clatter of plates, cups and silverware as a nearby table was being cleared. To our surprise, the familiar sounds of a table being cleared are soon accompanied by singing. we turned around to see where the singing was coming from, and were astonished to see that the man clearing the table was doing so at near light speed. I have never seen anyone work so quickly at busing a table. He was fast and efficient. Most interestingly, he was also smiling broadly and on occasion, would spontaneously burst into song. The songs he sang were all songs of joy and happiness. When he found a tip on a table, he would immediately start singing some song that reflected his thankfulness at receiving this gratuity. He would also sometimes make eye contact with one or more diners and begin singing a song to the customer(s) he was focusing on. He was amazing. We continued to visit that restaurant for several more years, even after it moved into a large new location. The highlight of every visit, for us, was watching this man joyfully do a job that most people despise. I worked at an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant for a grand total of three days in high school. I was a busboy. It was not a fun job. Yet, here was this man, who looked to be in his thirties, doing this job like it was the most fun he could possibly have.
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Throughout the course of my life, whenever I have seen a person doing an ordinary job in an extraordinary way, I have always taken note. My own father was an example of this. When he was working at the grocery store behind our house, he was not only friendly with customers, he became friends with the customers. He always had a smile, kind words, and a laugh for every person he encountered. When he walked his beat as a cop, he would bend down or take a knee to talk to children. He got to know all of the shop owners in our small downtown area and often did odd jobs for them on his days off. He helped the appliance store owner by delivering appliances. He repaired brass instruments for the owner of the music store. He worked the counter when the cobbler needed help. My father, who only became a police officer on a dare, did his job with enthusiasm and joy. His desire to help others led him to pick up a hitchhiker once during his shift on the police force. He asked this young man where he was going, and when the destination was in the next town, my father happily drove the man to that town and dropped him off. They enjoyed pleasant conversation during the course of the ride, and my father wished him well and drove back to our town. On his way back into town, during which he was well outside of the limits of his patrol area, he received a call about a store having been robbed, along with a description of the thief. That suspect was the man my father had just driven out of town and dropped off.
During the early days of my teaching career, when we lived just outside of Charleston, we regularly shopped at a grocery store in which one of the butchers would regularly set up his cutting table out in the store itself instead of back in the normal room behind large windows where butchers would normally work. Then, he would begin working... and singing. This "singing butcher" would sing loudly for long periods of time while he worked, often drawing quite a crowd. He was always happy and enthusiastic. Here was another example of a person doing this ordinary job in a way that most people would never dream of doing it.
"But music was his life, it was not his livelihood,
and it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good.
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul.
He did not know how well he sang; It just made him whole."
- Harry Chapin, Mr. Tanner
As I mentioned in a previous post, a few years ago we focused on the example of Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market in an in-service employee training seminar at work. We learned the four Fish! principles (Be There, Play, Make Their Day and Choose Your Attitude™), watched video of the employees at the market, and participated in a number of exercises and breakout sessions relating to this method of being exceptional at whatever you do.
Did everyone suddenly rush out and start singing as they performed their everyday tasks? Did everyone immediately start doing their jobs with enthusiasm? Of course not. Why? I believe there are several reasons. First, people are resistant to change. We have a tendency to continue doing whatever it is we are doing in exactly the same way we have always done it. To do anything different would be frightening to most of us. Second, many people have a lack of motivation to change. They don't believe that if they begin behaving in a certain way that they will start having fun at work. They don't see any reason to change, since the present system works adequately well.
The main reason, in my opinion, that most people tend to resist changes such as these is that, in combination with the above factors, we tend to behave the way we do because it is most in line with our personality. An introverted person will not suddenly become a gregarious example of extroversion just because of a few motivational sessions and videos at work. It just doesn't happen. Our personality is an outgrowth of not only the interior factors of our own personal tendencies and genetic make-up, it is also determined by our experiences through time. An individual can successfully modify their own personality, if they TRULY want to (or are otherwise sufficiently motivated), with great effort, over a period of time. Abrupt behavioral modifications are just not common and even gradual changes require great effort and desire.
"As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we've been given." - Mary Lou Retton
If it is so difficult and unlikely to affect this change, then why am I prattling on about it? Well, if one person were to read this and experiment, even for just one day, with conducting themselves at work, or just out in public, like at a restaurant next time you go out to eat, it would make the world a little bit more fun.
"We start out so open and spontaneous. We're real individuals. Then somewhere along the way we're drawn to conform." - Patch Adams
One of the best examples of this attitude in film, is Robin Williams' character in the movie Patch Adams. This character, who is based on a real person, was actually cited in his medical school files as suffering from "excessive happiness." I watched this film once again this morning and realized that a lot of the arguments that Dr. Walcott uses against "Patch" have been used against me. Walcott sees "Patch" as a threat because he approaches every day with enthusiasm and compassion. He genuinely loves people, and he loves helping them.
I was moved almost to tears during the scenes when Walcott tries to keep him from graduating and becoming a doctor. I had heard many of those same points recently used as criticism towards me.
"Because what you want is for us to get down there on the same level as our patients... to destroy objectivity... You don't fit in. There are standards and codes."
- Dr. Walcott, Patch Adams
When "Patch" is speaking at the hearing where the board is making the determination of whether or not he will be allowed to graduate, he defends his approach to medicine, and life, and his words echo my feelings.
"Now, I've sat in your schools and heard people lecture on transference... and professional distance. Transference is inevitable, sir. Every human being has an impact on another." - Patch Adams
Once again, when he is being addressed by the board, the words are eerily similar to things I have recently heard, as recently as the day I resigned.
"We find your methods less than appealing. along with your crass and disdainful behavior... you carry with you a flame..."
While my flame for being a professional educator may have been extinguished, my flame for life has not. I still love interacting with people. In my leadership seminars, I have always encouraged the prospective leaders to be exceptional in everything they do. I have told them about the busboy at the pizza place and the singing butcher. I have even told them stories of my father.
This past spring, I had another example to share with them. I went to the local theater a few months ago, and when I approached the concessions counter for some extremely overpriced soda and popcorn, because it's not a "real" movie experience without that stuff, I was waited on by a man named Don. I always try to speak to people who are wearing name tags using their name. I mean, otherwise why wear the tag, right? Don made working at a movie theater concession stand into a work of art. He was friendly and began establishing a rapport with me right away. We bantered back and forth. He commented on my Pink Floyd t-shirt (I get a lot of comments on that shirt). We joked about all sorts of things. I was almost late getting into the movie. Don made me happy to have to almost take out a second mortgage and arrange a payment plan for a soft drink and a bucket of popcorn.
“Enthusiasm is the leaping lightning, not to be measured by the horse-power of the understanding." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
The following week, I told the story of my encounter with Don during one of my leadership seminars. That afternoon, two of the students from my leadership seminar immediately drove directly to the theater, about 15 minutes away, to buy some overpriced concessions and meet Don. They weren't there to see a movie. They didn't even buy tickets to see a movie later in the week (which you can do now). They went simply to meet Don and experience his enthusiasm. He did not let them down. That afternoon, to promote a movie (which will go unnamed here), Don was dressed as a pirate. When they approached him, he immediately launched into a routine about looking for his lost parrot, speaking in the "pirate voice" the entire time (AAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!)
“The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.” - Aldous Huxley
People like Don, and the others mentioned above, make life so much more fun. They bring joy into the lives of others in small, unexpected ways. Why not try it? Pick an opportunity and make someone's day. Have fun with them. Give them the opportunity to play. Provoke a smile and give them one of yours. Make a game out of it. It's like a little civil disobedience that can't get you into trouble (in most circumstances). Go for it, just once. What do you have to lose?
“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.” – Henry David Thoreau
