I have to admit... This looks kinda creepy... but I REALLY want to see it.
anthony & raul
I really want to tell you about two gentlemen I know – Anthony and Raul.
I did a Google search to figure out what title best suits them: Service men? Utility workers? My friend Mark even suggested handymen. I am not entirely sure what types of workers they are, or what their actual titles are/should be… All I know is that I love seeing both of them when I go to work!
Anthony is one of the main custodians where I work. I usually see him mopping the floor – during this season especially. Where I work, we have a white and black marble tile floor, and it gets pretty dirty pretty fast. Anthony spends a lot of his time mopping the same areas over and over. My co-worker Kate and I apologize profusely every time we have to walk across it, even though he assures us it’s ok.
But here’s what I love about Anthony…
He always goes beyond his role as a custodian. I remember one morning, I was walking into my building and he was coming down the hallway towards me. He turned to the elevators, and hit the “up” button for me so that the elevator was waiting when I got there. No prompting. No “hey, catch that elevator for me.” He just knew that’s where I was headed, and thought he’d help me out.
I can remember going for months, not knowing his name. We’d always greet each other in the morning with our typical “hellos” but that was about it. Until one morning, I finally said to him, “You know, I see you every morning, and I don’t even know you’re name.” Thus began our “friendship.” Now, I put the word friendship in quotes because it’s not really what I’d consider a friendship, but we definitely aren’t just causal friendly strangers anymore.
My goal as of late has been to get Anthony to smile. He’s usually a pretty serious fella – always friendly, but doesn’t often smile. However lately, we’ve been cracking jokes a bit more and he’s been a lot more light-hearted with my co-workers and me.
He does a job that most of us wouldn’t think of doing, and he does it well. He’s one of the nicest guys in our building, and I love him to pieces! He brightens my day when I see him.
Then there’s Raul…
Raul cracks me up! He is such a funny guy. He’s our building “fix-it” man. He’s been there at least as long as I have, and I always enjoy when there’s something on our floor that needs fixing. The funny thing about Raul is he really likes to talk about things very specific to a person. So, he gets to know one or two things about you, and then that’s ALL he’ll talk about with you. It’s fantastic, though!
For example, my co-workers Beth and Kate and I decided last June that we were going to canoe to work. June 26th is National Canoe Day (in Canada) but we decided that it would be fun to canoe down the Milwaukee River on our way to and from work. So, bright and early one morning, we put the canoe in at Becher & KK in Bay View, and canoed down the Milwaukee River until we arrived at ASQ. Because we work downtown, there aren’t really a whole lot of places to leave a canoe. Therefore, we docked where the Edelweiss docks, carried our canoe across Michigan Avenue, waited until a car scanned into the basement lot, and carried our canoe down to the basement. Raul saw all this go down, and thought it was fascinating that we canoed to work. Now, almost every time we see him, he makes some sort of comment about our canoe adventure, asking us where our paddles are and such.
But Raul is always looking for ways to make us smile and laugh, and he’s always such a delight to see when he comes to our building. He services a TON of buildings in the Milwaukee area, so we don’t get to see him that often, but when we do, it’s a total treat!
Over the past few weeks, he hasn’t been around. We started getting nervous that maybe he didn’t work for the company anymore, and were feeling really sad about his absence. But not more than a half an hour after the conversation I had with my co-workers, there was Raul with his ladder fixing all sorts of things.
I know it may sound silly, but these guys make my day and I’m so honored that they work in my building! Ever since I was little, I’ve loved the sort of “unnoticed” people – the people who do all the jobs most of us wouldn’t want, but make our workplaces such great places to be. When I was little, I had a total soft spot in my heart for the janitor at my school. I’d often make him cookies and I was able to build a fun friendship with him. He was such a sweet man, and cared so much about the students. To this day, I still have a lot of joy in my heart when I see him. He was such a fantastic janitor and friend!
So, if you think about it, try to learn a little bit about the custodians, or the “fix-it” guys where you work. They’re great people with really great stories! And they do more than you realize to make where you work a fantastic environment!
Next person I’d like to get to know: The awesome older guy who works the parking garage gate. He is this SUPER sweet man, and we always wave goodbye to each other at the end of the night. I don’t know his name yet though… Soon enough!
