I recently had a long conversation with a gentleman who was nearing retirement. He talked a lot about having spent the last 40 years delivering milk. And he was unsure as to when he should actually retire.
I wasn’t really sure what he meant by “delivering milk” so I asked him if he was the guy that drives a milk truck to a store and stocks the shelves with various milk products. Having been in lots of grocery and convenience stores I had seen these people that work behind the scenes stocking the shelves with chips, milk, bread etc. So I was curious how that whole system works.
I could see on his face that my question ruffled his feathers a little bit. Just a little. He made the assumption that I was belittling him. “Just a milkman huh?”
But that wasn’t the intent of my question.
So I cleared it up for him. I said to him.
“Wow, when you think about it, for decades you reliably delivered, every day, that beautiful wholesome milk to people and families. You have literally had a quiet, behind the scenes, positive impact on children who now have their own children. What you have devoted your career to is a very honorable thing.”
He perked up at this -realizing what my real thoughts were about his career. And I think that my voicing of this opinion might have swayed him to not yet retire because what he was doing is important and needed! – Which it very much is.
I have recently watched two big performances on the world stage. One was of a big public production of political powers in China. And the other was a big shin-dig of a parade in Russia.
And this lead me to think about people “in power” and how they do a lot of self-aggrandizement.
And this got me to thinking about “the little guy” and how he or she contributes to the world in very important and under-rated ways.
When it comes to prestige the world we have things backwards. The people “at the top” should be on the bottom. And the people “on the bottom” really should be at the top.
Of all the people in this world that I admire – Nuns are the people I admire the most. They live with no possessions, present themselves very humbly and devote their whole lives to serving others. In my opinion they stand at the very top of all of this.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.