PERSPECTIVE INFLUENCES ATTITUDE...
T
By Nate Marks
he other day, I was in an office building and observed what they do is so much more than just cleaning up messes. I
an office worker (let’s call her Meg) getting upset at thought about when I used to work as a bus girl in a restaurant.
the cleaning person (let’s call him Tony) because My perspective was that I was throwing away other people’s
Tony was making too much noise while he was trying to doing garbage, and thus my attitude reflected that type of limited
his job. I was struck by how frustrated Meg seemed, and that thinking. I didn’t enjoy the work, and I probably wasn’t very
was reflected in her attitude towards Tony. Meg didn’t speak friendly. However, a small change in my perspective would
very respectfully to Tony, yet Tony didn’t seem bothered. In have resulted in me having a more positive attitude.
fact, Tony seemed like how Meg treated him was an everyday
occurrence. Potentially, if the two spoke to each other, they “I’m here to throw away your garbage” is so vastly different
could work it out. But, it was obvious that neither side would than “I’m here to make your dining experience more pleas-
approach the other and that what I observed would continue ant”. To me, the difference is perspective and attitude. If I’m
without either party trying to change it. thinking about myself first, then I’d see busing a table as deal-
ing with someone else’s garbage, which is how I viewed it at
the time. If I’m thinking about the customer first, then I’d see
busing a table as making the experience more pleasant for
customer. And, I’d probably would have made more in tips.
I started to make a point to greet and talk to the people that
are responsible for beautification where I work. At first, there
was hesitancy on the side of the beauticians. But, after me
reaching out to them for several days, they started conversing
a bit with me. I realized that they probably don’t get a lot of
people trying to engage them in conversation, other than to
tell them to be quiet or come back later. And, their work is mo-
tion driven, so they can’t stand around and chat too much,
but this small act of acknowledgement and kindness probably
Tae Yun Kim talks about how people that are in the clean- does do a little bit to make their day better. Which, in turn,
ing/maintenance industry have an amazing responsibility to could lead to more productivity. u
make the environment they maintain beautiful. A lot of peo-
ple might consider their job duties entail cleaning up other
people’s messes, but with just a small change in perspective,
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