I currently work at Burlington. Well, to be precise, I work for a large cleaning company that contracts with places like Burlington.
Yes, I'm a janitor. And I honestly love my job. It's the easiest job I've ever had in my life, and the hours are even better. (Who wouldn't want to work only 4 hours a day?)
But what gets me is how many people I see come and go. They will get hired and literally only last a week or so. I'm not sure if they're lazy, just don't like the work or maybe it's the stigma attached to being a janitor.
Growing up I always heard, "do you wanna end up as a janitor?" As if cleaning for someone else were something to be ashamed of. But why and how did this idea come about? Why do people look down upon janitors? In my experience, they do some very important work, and without them, everything would be a whole lot dirtier.
Somewhere along the line, people have decided that some jobs are more worthy, and make you a better person, while others make you poor, lazy, uneducated. None of this is true, of course. I am not poor, lazy or uneducated.
I've done alot in my short life so far. I did web hosting and web design in my teens. I went from mowing lawns for extra money to making it into a full blown successful landscaping business for 6 years. I cleaned houses. I learned to paint and started doing that. I learned irrigation and started doing that, too. Handyman repairs. Whatever I could use, I learned.
I have an array of survival skills that will get me through anything. Can I do complex mathematics in my head? No way, I can barely do basic math. Do I have a bunch of fancy degrees to prove to you the things I can do? Nope, and I've no desire to get any.
What I do know is this, I can do what's essential to survive. I can cook, clean, fix things, fix cars, fix sprinklers, paint walls, file quarterly taxes, manage customer relations, paint anything, plant gardens, grow food, build shelter. I can create. And to me this is far more fulfilling than sitting in an office full of cubicles and starting at a computer screen all day every day.
Yes, I’m a janitor. I get down and dirty, to make things clean for you. And I’m not ashamed of that. My actions make for a better place for people to shop, and that means something to me. I may never be rich in the sense of monetary value, but I’m far more rich in knowledge of the how-to. I can be proud of that.
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