Who Would Do the Work?

I found it interesting on my latest poll that 100% of the respondents answered that they considered custodial work demeaning. True, it's not a glorious profession, but the pay is better than many jobs and the satisfaction that comes from being able to make a building clean and neat is rewarding.

I've often thought about how others view custodial or janitorial work and its always intriguing to me that even though it is looked down upon, without people to do this work businesses, schools, offices and other facilities would soon become havens for filth, sickness and disease. The old adage that "someone has to do it" may be true here, but I can think of a lot of other jobs that are worse than cleaning.

Sometimes it seems that those who do not want to do custodial or janitorial work view themselves as better than those who do. But in the decades that I've been doing this work, I've always found that most of the people who are willing to do this work are more down-to-earth, humble and happier than many who have a more "prestigious" or "important" job. I'm not saying all people feel that way, but those kind of vibes certainly accompany comments or looks received when someone says they do "cleaning" for a living.

I've also found it interesting that for all the bad views and comments about custodial or janitorial employees, it's those individuals who are entrusted with the most responsibility. They're given keys to banks, buildings, restricted areas and other off-limit regions that most people are not allowed to view or enter. Yet, here you have cleaning people that go everywhere. For me that has always been a perk because I have learned and seen so much about so many things that I would never have been able to do had I had a different job.

Finally as a custodian, I have met people from all sorts of backgrounds and careers and have learned a lot about many things. I feel that being a custodian or janitor has opened my mind to a myriad different professions. I've actually been able to be a jack-of-all-trades so-to-speak having been able to interact with so many people. Instead of focusing on one job or experience, I've had hundreds.

Like many people, I'm interested in millions of things in this world. But being realistic and knowing I can't learn about them all at this point in time anyway, I find that being a custodian allows me to learn so much more than focusing on one career or another.

Thanks for the response to my poll. It's always interesting to see what people are thinking! Share a comment or two.