Then after having a wonderful time at Panera with my friend, Laura, this morning (thanks, Laura!), and after picking Alex up at preschool, we went to put gas in my car. I was going to pay for a car wash while we were there, but by the time I filled my tank, the car wash line was too long. The temperature got up near a whopping 30 degrees (heat wave!) so everyone wanted to wash the gunk, salt, and grime off their cars. I didn't want to wait that long to get my car washed because it was lunchtime and Alex was hungry and whiny. So we left. And he whined even more. Ugh! He really wanted to go through the car wash. That's what I get for telling him about stuff that may or may not happen. When will I ever learn?
Anyway, while there pumping gas, there was an attendant outside the entrance to the car wash letting the people know when to pull their cars ahead. I guess to make the line go faster? I thought to myself, "Now there's a thankless job. Poor guy is out here freezing and probably no one says thank you."
We left and drove about 2 miles past our house to a car wash where you have to spray off your own car. {gasp!} So I spent 2 bucks and sprayed all the gook off of my car. Instead of spending $6 or $8 at the gas station for the drive-thru car wash. But that's not the point of this post.
On the way back home Alex was excited to see the dead deer again. (He apparently forgot about it on the way out). But when we were approaching the spot where it had laid this morning, it was gone. The dead-deer-picker-upper guy had apparently been there to get it.
Which really got me thinking about the thankless jobs that people have. Who really wants to be that guy? The guy that has to go pick up dead deer off the side of the road? We've seen him in action when a couple months ago there was a dead deer in front of my next-door neighbor's house. The ones that feed the deer all throughout the cold months. The beautiful deer that carry ticks and give them to my kids and dog. Yeah. I thought that might be the ticket to get them to stop feeding the deer, but no. They still feed them.
Anyway, Alex and I got to watch the guy lifting the deer onto the back of his truck with a winch (I think that's what it is called.) I forget what the sign was on the side of the truck. Joe's Handy Dandy Carcass Removal or something. :) I'm sure they get paid sufficiently, but that is not a job I envy. Here's a guy who's so proud of his dead animal removal that he posted pictures on his website. http://www.247wildlife.com/deadphotos.htm And in case you can't see them well enough, it says "click for larger image". Eeewww!
Garbage men have a pretty icky job. And no one probably thanks them either. Oh sure, maybe around this time of year they'll get a card or a treat or something. But that's about it. You don't really see them since they come in the middle of the night, so there's no real relationship there. You just get annoyed when they forget to take your garbage because you have to keep it for another week. I think most garbage men get paid pretty well also, but you'd have to get paid well to want that job.
Snow removal guys probably seldom get thanked either. I mean, it would be hard to thank them when they are flying past your house 50 miles per hour spraying all that dirty snow all over your yard and knocking down your mailbox. :) But still.
The guys who go out to gather up shopping carts probably don't get thanked much either. And most of them have to wander all over the parking lot to find the carts that the lazy people wouldn't bother taking back to a cart corral. (Yeah, that's a pet peeve of mine. Especially when people push the cart to the corral, but don't actually put the cart in the corral. Like another 10 steps is going to kill them.)
Have you ever thanked someone who has a job like that because they were doing a great job? I bet it would make someone's day to hear a kind word instead of only hearing people complain about what they didn't do or what they messed up.
What are some other thankless jobs? I'm tired and can't think of any more right now.
Well, other than being a mom. That should probably be at the top of the list.
2 comments:
Our garbage man comes on Tuesdays around 11:30 and every time we are home the kids run to the window to watch. In the summer we sit outside and watch. They LOVE the garbage truck! (And it's a just a small dump truck one.) The guy always waves to us now and I taught the kids right from the start to say thanks when we are outside watching. The first time we said thanks you could see the man's face change. He got the biggest smile. I think it made his day. I've been thinking of giving him a gift card or something here for Christmas and thanking him for making my kids day every Tuesday.
When I lived in the dorms I would always thank the cleaning ladies. I mean... cleaning gazillions of college dorm bathrooms sucks. I know. I did it. (Suckiest job EVER!) And no one thanks you. But in the off campus dorm I would take the ladies cookies and talk with them. They loved it and it worked in my favor since I needed a place to stay for three extra weeks before I could move in to my apartment and they let me stay for free. :)
I think we should thank everyone for their job. Mike puts on roofs but rarely gets thanked. People cut our hair because we can't do it nicely. The size of your tip to a waitress says thanks. (Or not.) I think we need to just step outside of our selfishness once in a while and realize the services that others are providing and that we are privileged to have access to all those things.
Sorry to blog on your blog haha.
Janitors for sure!!!
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