Learn To Be Happy To Work

"It is not true that there is dignity in all work. Some jobs are definitely better than others. It is not hard to tell the good jobs from the bad. People who have good jobs are happy, rich, and well dressed. People who have bad jobs are unhappy, poor, and use meat extenders. Those who seek dignity in the type of work that compels them to help hamburgers are certain to be disappointed. Also to be behaving badly." - the sarcastic and clever writer, Fran Lebowitz

My first job taught me the most valuable life lesson. I was in high school. I was sixteen. And I thought working in a burger joint would be cool.

I actually still think it's cool to work at a burger joint and despite what Fran Lebowitz wrote, to mop floors, work over a hot grill, and get food orders out on time, gave me plenty of dignity. I learned to work fast, work hard, remember things quickly, be nice to strangers, get along with coworkers, and enjoy the site of a freshly mopped brick floor.

But the biggest lesson I learned working at the Purple Turtle was how to be happy to work. 

The worst job to get assigned working at the purple turtle is scrubbing the wooden stairs that lead to the basement. They are old, worn, and always dirty from the many greasy tennis shoes that run up and down them throughout the busy shift. The stairs used to be painted purple, once upon a time, but through years of constant use, only the sides and backs of the steps show any purple. The basement is a giant pantry where everything is kept on rows of tidy shelves... the bottles of ketchup, the ice cream cones, the maraschino cherries, the burger buns, the napkins, the plastic knives, the cleaning supplies, and the upright freezers where all the frozen bags of fries and meat are kept. In the morning hours delivery men thump tall carts full of food product and paper supplies down these stairs... leaving two black greasy trails right down the middle on the exposed wood from the wheels of the cart.

Once a week or so, one unlucky soul has the job of scrubbing these stairs down. With a purple bucket full of hot water, heavy duty floor cleaner, a silver scrubber, and a towel.... a person will get up close and personal with each step as they scrub and clean with their bare hands. Most of the time you are basically sanding the stairs as you scrub because slivers of wood come up as you roughly go over the spots with dirt. The bucket becomes black with dirt and floating pieces of wood and grime. It's nasty and time consuming, and everyone complains when they have to do it.

In my first few months of working at the purple turtle I used to hate when it was my turn to scrub the stairs, absolutely hate it. When it was my turn to scrub them it would ruin my whole evening. I resented whoever would assign me to do them, and the negative feelings in my soul were not healthy. I would brood and scowl as I soaped them up, scrubbed them down, then tried to wipe them clean. The cloud of angry thoughts and negativity were bad, but when I was put in charge of the night crew and had to assign someone else to do it, I hated it even more. Everyone hates the stairs.

One night, when I was in charge of the night shift, we gathered around the cleaning list at the beginning of the shift, like we always do, and started assigning who would do what. When I saw near the bottom of the list that we needed to do the stairs that night, I cringed, "there goes the chance of a smooth happy work crew tonight", I thought. When someone is assigned the stairs you can tell they are unhappy about it all night long, they become unpleasant to work with, and then everyone hates being at work. I could tell the group had seen that stairs were on the list too, because everyone was quiet and tense.

Before thinking too long about it, I quickly said "I'll do the stairs tonight, don't worry about those."

There was a noticeable sign of relief that fell upon the small huddle we were gathered in.

One girl nervously asked, "are you sure?"

"Yup," I replied, "I like doing the stairs."

What a lie! But, as a night crew leader, I had learned that my attitude had a giant impact on how smooth the night shift ran. If people were happy, they worked harder and better. If someone was in a bad mood, the bad mood seemed to spread to others, and the night would go by slow. As I scoured the stairs that night I felt clever that I had avoided putting anyone in a bad mood... and I decided that I did like doing the stairs myself because it made others happy. I decided to list off other things I liked about scrubbing the stairs.... I liked the alone time, the small break it gave me not being rushed around putting orders out and dealing with customers, and I absolutely loved at the end of scrubbing the stairs, standing above them and seeing how clean and different they looked. The exposed wood looked awesome when completely clean, and I loved the visual sight of a job well done.

I am still amazed at how we can trick our brains from hating something to really enjoying something, and how much easier life is when we enjoy doing the work we are asked to do. I have applied this in many areas of my life and it's made a big difference. After that night I applied this "liking skill" to doing dishes, scrubbing toilets, cleaning grease traps, and working well with difficult coworkers. I genuinely learned to like all these things and to take pride in doing them well, and this attitude had many benefits. Volunteering for the bad jobs, and doing them well with a smile on my face made me likable, both by my coworkers and my bosses. Coworkers would return the kindness and be pleasant to work with, and bosses trusted me more, gave me more responsibility, and always gave me good job referrals.

But the biggest benefit of learning to like work is that I really am happy at work. Liking work is so much better than hating it. And it's the best when you work with someone who is happy and gets the hard tasks done. With the right coworker any job is fun.

I have a favorite quote about this theory that I have blogged about a couple times already (here and here) but it resonates with me, so I will share it again. The man who wrote these words is talking about being assigned a chore or duty that you don't want to do, and how you can change your perspective about it:

"In the past, I had always reconciled myself to un-exciting duty because I knew that by doing my very best sooner or later the duty I wanted most would come along. But as a logistics officer I discovered something more. I discovered that when dull, routine, colorless chores depress us, it is most often we, ourselves, who are at fault. For we allow that which is petty or dull to conquer and suppress that which is unsuppressible -- the human spirit. There is nothing on earth above which the human mind cannot rise, there are no dark corners of life that we cannot brighten, even a bit, for ourselves, if only we allow the human spirit to ignite a little flame now and then - to create a little perspective, a little humanity, a little sense of humor, a sense of the pride of accomplishment, even when there are no medals to be handed out, and we must feel that pride only in our hearts."

 -The Man Who Rode the Thunder - Lt. Col. William Rankin

I recently listened to the book 41, A Portrait of My Father by George W Bush and fell in love with the former president George HW Bush and his work ethic. George Bush writes about his dad...

"When he committed to doing something, he did it all out. If George Bush was assigned to sweep the warehouse, the manager would find the cleanest floor he had ever seen. If he had to paint rigs, he'd come in Saturday morning to slap on an extra coat, so that the job got done right. My father enjoyed working hard, and he liked to see the results of his efforts. The lessons his mother had instilled had taken hold, 'Do your best, don't be arrogant, never complain'. After a while his supervisors recognized that their trainee was capable of bigger things..."

Just learn to love it, whatever you have to do, even if it's just for fifteen minutes. If something seems daunting and hard, tell your brain and body "let's just love it" and you will be surprised how much easier the task will be, how much harder you will work, and how much better you feel having accomplished it. As a long time happy worker and inspiring proper mountain woman, this is the best advice I can impart. Hope it serves you well.

Peace and pine tress,
Whitney