I have a friend who said that the worst job she ever had was cleaning the Orange Julius machines at the mall. Tom and I had a date night planned anyways... so for Day 4, we could head to the mall just before it closes and hit up the Orange Julius.
"You wanna clean the Orange Julius machines!?" My usually supportive husband thought that was going a bit too far. I reassured him that I had no intentions of going elbow deep into any Julius, orange or otherwise. But, I wanted to surprise an Orange Julius worker with a gift card.
We get the gift card and I write a little poem that says:
I have a friend who's worst-ever job was cleaning the Orange Julius machines...
I bet she wished someone had thanked her and said how much her work means...
So here is a little note to say thank you...
So go buy a drink and something to chew.
Horrible right? I don't do poems. And just like I don't do poems, our mall doesn't do Orange Julius.
So, I write this poem about cleaning the Orange Julius machines, but apparently I haven't been to a mall since 1987... So my poetry made no sense to the unsuspecting soft pretzel ladies. But, cleaning the vat of cheese seemed pretty gross, so I though I would randomly act kind toward them.
Problem #1: No Orange Julius.
Problem #2: Horrible poem, no longer applies.
Problem #3: TWO ladies. ONE gift card.
Problem #4: I actually ask who is in charge of cleaning the cheese vat tonight because that (in my mind) was the only way to sensibly determine who needs the kindness more.
Problem #5: When you ask a food service worker who is in charge of cleaning things... They automatically want to shove your face in the cheese vat, because it is way more likely that you are going to yell at the cheese-cleaner about something than to handsomely reward her with gifts.
After explaining it about six different times, they finally realized that I wasn't being critical of the cleanliness, but that I just wanted to thank someone who does a thankless job. We all do things during the day that nobody notices or appreciates, and it feels good to have somebody acknowledge even the trivial tasks we accomplish. I am thankful that I believe in a God who sees. He actually sees us reaching out to a friend, He sees us walk our kids to school, or compromise with a difficult co-worker. He sees us wipe our kids buns for the 48th time today, and He sees us clean out the vat of cheese.
The best part is that He doesn't just see, He promises that He also cares. I am certain that I did not communicate any of this to the pretzel ladies... but, I hope that they felt seen, and I hope they felt appreciated. If nothing else, He sees that I am trying. So, being four days in... I count that as a win.
"You wanna clean the Orange Julius machines!?" My usually supportive husband thought that was going a bit too far. I reassured him that I had no intentions of going elbow deep into any Julius, orange or otherwise. But, I wanted to surprise an Orange Julius worker with a gift card.
We get the gift card and I write a little poem that says:
I have a friend who's worst-ever job was cleaning the Orange Julius machines...
I bet she wished someone had thanked her and said how much her work means...
So here is a little note to say thank you...
So go buy a drink and something to chew.
Horrible right? I don't do poems. And just like I don't do poems, our mall doesn't do Orange Julius.
So, I write this poem about cleaning the Orange Julius machines, but apparently I haven't been to a mall since 1987... So my poetry made no sense to the unsuspecting soft pretzel ladies. But, cleaning the vat of cheese seemed pretty gross, so I though I would randomly act kind toward them.
Problem #1: No Orange Julius.
Problem #2: Horrible poem, no longer applies.
Problem #3: TWO ladies. ONE gift card.
Problem #4: I actually ask who is in charge of cleaning the cheese vat tonight because that (in my mind) was the only way to sensibly determine who needs the kindness more.
Problem #5: When you ask a food service worker who is in charge of cleaning things... They automatically want to shove your face in the cheese vat, because it is way more likely that you are going to yell at the cheese-cleaner about something than to handsomely reward her with gifts.
After explaining it about six different times, they finally realized that I wasn't being critical of the cleanliness, but that I just wanted to thank someone who does a thankless job. We all do things during the day that nobody notices or appreciates, and it feels good to have somebody acknowledge even the trivial tasks we accomplish. I am thankful that I believe in a God who sees. He actually sees us reaching out to a friend, He sees us walk our kids to school, or compromise with a difficult co-worker. He sees us wipe our kids buns for the 48th time today, and He sees us clean out the vat of cheese.
The best part is that He doesn't just see, He promises that He also cares. I am certain that I did not communicate any of this to the pretzel ladies... but, I hope that they felt seen, and I hope they felt appreciated. If nothing else, He sees that I am trying. So, being four days in... I count that as a win.