Ah, the mentality of the five-year-old who whines to parents that he “really did take a bath” when the smell and dirt under the nails say otherwise.
How about the students who wait until 7:56 a.m. to get that math homework done before an 8 a.m. first period class?
I confess that sometimes I wash my towels with my cardigan sweaters because, well, I just want to get it over with.
But believe it or not, there are people who cannot and, thankfully, will not, slack.
The farmer greasing the tractor joints every eight hours.
The manager of an eating establishment ensuring a spotless kitchen each night.
A nurse charting her patient’s record with bull’s eye accuracy.
The caregiving daughter preparing daily medications for her mother with Alzheimer’s.
A kindergarten teacher standing on high alert for five straight hours before the little nonstop rascals pull out the nap mats.
Whether it be manual or mental, professional or blue-collar, athletic or artistic, the approach taken to achieve good work is noteworthy. Increasingly, I am drawn to those who respectfully perform the repetitive skill sets of their jobs. An emergencyroom doctor may sew up ten cuts in one shift, but it is reassuring to know that my 10-inch long wound will receive the same attention to detail as the others did.
Doing a job well does not necessarily equate to perfection. For example, when teaching I found it a curious thing that students with horrible handwriting scored perfect grades on spelling tests. Then it occurred to me that their attention to detail manifested itself not on the appearance of letters but on the correct placement of them—which was the objective, after all. (This mindset does not apply to the aforementioned ER doctor who I hope will be mindful of both appearance/correct placement of my stitches).
Much gratitude to those who do their jobs well. Consistently and accurately taking care of business is commendable no matter what the task involves.
So, let’s all vow to scrub behind our ears, avoid putting off a chore four minutes before the deadline unless that chore is cooking Minute Rice, and make the effort to separate whites from darks when doing laundry.
It wouldn’t hurt to clean up our acts with some mindfulness to the little things.
Snyder, Texas, native Sue Jane Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher whose thought-provoking commentary appears occasionally in several West Texas newspapers, including The Texas Spur and The Caprock Courier.
