Little Things

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash

My staff room was a disgusting mess. In my spare time I put the spoons in one draw, forks in another and the knives in the 3rd draw as is marked on the front. For the previous 2 years, all cutlery, sharp knives, peelers, ladles, gadgets and everything else was dumped in the top draw; usually still wet.

This year, I never left my workplace without adding a tablet and switching on the dishwasher either. Mostly it was because I was tired of there not being anything left clean, even though there were more than enough cups.

Coffee breaks aren’t such a break when you need to empty, scrub and wash stuff before you use it. Lastly, I’d swipe the benches with a disinfectant wipe.

While I’m not highly skilled at classroom management, I am fast and efficient at housework. The cleaning, which no one knew about, was by far the easiest task completed in a whole day of teaching.

First, there was a Spanish Inquisition to find who it was. Questions went up on whiteboards and were raised at team meetings for weeks. I’m only part-time, so I didn’t notice. When the boss found out he was over the moon. I got all this kudos for doing something that took about 4 minutes and made the place we share look and feel a little better.

You would have thought I’d performed a miracle.

It was something small, yet everybody said it’s the little things that make such a huge difference.

I wasn’t sucking up; I just happen to be a bit of a neat freak and like being in a tidy space where I can find a clean mug or spoon to stir my tea.

It wasn’t rocket science; it was mostly for me.

Photo by Izzie R on Unsplash

Though there is a roster for kitchen clean up, most staff ignore it or do the least they can get away with. They feel the task is beneath them; though they always whinge when it’s not being done by others.

I’m not great at my real job, not a good disciplinarian, and I’m not too proud either. This insignificant thing made other staff appreciate me, be kinder to me, open their eyes and be more friendly and inclusive to me.

In his recent story: Am I Independent? Is That…Bad? Troy Robertson said that in the workplace- ”Faithfulness starts with thankfulness.”

It does, but being thanked for making an infinitesimally small contribution made me much more faithful to the school where I work as well.