Janitor, Custodian, Maintenance Guy, Cleaners
 

My Dad had a rule each year for the first day of school...

Introduce yourself to the Janitor, Custodian whatever he/she is called at your school, get their name, write it down, memorize it. Everytime you see him you address him by name and greet him. You always say thank you and he gets a gift every Christmas....my father was firm on these things. This carried over to my jobs and everywhere I work, these folks are always the first I look for and intro myself too, often; infact, always they become my friends.

Today I found out one of my dear friends former cleaner guy from my office died, strange way I found out, but he died a couple months ago and I had no idea.

Alex was a great guy, made me laugh, walked me to my car when I stayed late, and one time when he heard me bitching about putting these ridiculous file boxes together he offered to do it...I went out to lunch, when I came back he packed my office from floor to ceiling with boxes, it was so funny....R.I.P. ALEX....

Note: To all....even if you never see your office cleaner or meet them, find out their name, take up a collection at Christmas, they deserve that...besides they clean your toilets at work for you...they more than deserve it!!!

I love the custodian at my work. She is amazing! Thanks for the reminder :)

I feel the same way. I always acknowledge the cleaning people. Alex sounds like a great guy. I'm sorry for your loss.

Sorry for your loss. I've always noticed people with those jobs:)
That reminds me, when Joel was 5 months old we were in a hotel for 3 weeks and his best friend was this cleaning lady, she barely spoke english but every time she saw him she would say "my friend!" And Joel absolutely LOVED her and even remembered her 6 months later!:p

That is so true. My Dad was a school janitor and he was a special man.

Aww Patti...I'm sure he was, and they really are very hard workers and Lord knows they have patience of saints!

Your dad sounds like a very smart, thoughtful man. I know he would be proud of you for practicing his rule. I'm sure he taught you many more life codes to follow. It's a shame more of us don't think about the people that make our lives more comfortable (me included).

Yes yes yes! Repair guys too! We have the BEST custodian at my school! He is wonderful! First day of school I had to have help from both the custodian and the repair guy! I walked into no A/C and ants!! They were my heroes!

RIP Alex. Sounds like you were a great guy too!

Great post!! Your Dad sounded so awesome, I love his beliefs whenever you share them.

I too think it's so important to acknowledge those who sometimes (or, often) get overlooked. Each of us plays an important role in keeping the world moving and working. I always have such admiration and respect for those who never forget that there is no such thing as "the little people" in life.