A few months ago, I met a janitor with a unique and inspiring perspective on work, life and the balance between the two. Here’s the full story of this encounter. A quick disclaimer: this story is about an extraordinary, but very modest man. To protect his privacy, I’ve withheld or changed a few minor details.
Occasionally, I work late at our company’s HQ. A few times a week, around 6 p.m., the cleaning crew arrives. ‘Crew’ is perhaps a bit overstated: usually there’s two people, who spend fifteen to twenty minutes vacuuming and wiping down desks. I guess the cleaning company that employs them strives to always send the same crew, so we usually see familiar faces. But one evening, the crew consisted of just one man, whom I had never seen before. This man immediately captured my attention. Not because of his appearance: he was slim, about 1.70m tall and dressed in the cleaning company’s standard attire — nothing exceptionally noteworthy there. If I had to guess, I would say he was in his early fifties and of Indonesian or Philippine descent. What really attracted my attention, was the ludicrous amount of energy radiating from this nimble man. From the moment he pushed his cart with cleaning supplies into the office, there was a clear ‘presence’ that was impossible to ignore. His every movement was executed with great precision and energy. Wiping down the desks, he actually cleaned the entire surface and not just the easy-to-reach parts like his coworkers usually did. Vacuuming, he really covered the entire office — including the corners where dust had silently been gathering for weeks, or even months. And he did all this at at least twice the speed that I was accustomed to. Unsurprisingly, after ten minutes this energetic man was sweating as if he'd run a marathon. But what really struck me, was the joy that he seemed to find in his workmanship. He was doing a job that very few people consider particularly motivating or enjoyable… and he was having a wonderful time!
When he reached my desk, I paid him a compliment for the energetic and thorough manner in which he did his work, and I asked if he was new with the company. I expected a short answer, figuring that he had to be under enormous time pressure. But much to my surprise, he engaged in a conversation that would last well over half an hour. First, he formally introduced himself (let’s call him ‘Edward’) and kindly asked my name. From that moment on, without exception, he would call me ‘Mr. Lucas’. It made me feel like the womanizing salesman from ‘Are You Being Served?’ Of course, from then on I called him ‘Mr. Edward’. Mr. Edward told me that our regular cleaners were indisposed that evening, and that he was the substitute at the cleaning company.
‘I’m their last resort, Mr. Lucas’ he said jokingly. He also explained that he considered his work ‘exercise’. ‘I run, Mr. Lucas… marathons. But this is a fun way to stay fit, too!’
We chatted a while about running and about sports in general. When I mentioned that I like sports climbing, he immediately wanted to know everything about the subject. His conversational style was as engaging and energetic as his working ethic. At some point, I asked him if being ‘the substitute’ at the cleaning company was his main job. It didn't seem like a very stable source of income. A bit amused, he replied:
‘Oh no Mr. Lucas, I don’t need an income… I have an excellent pension!’ At which point, of course, I kindly inquired about his age. Much to my surprise, Mr. Edward was well within his sixties — a good 15 years older than I had estimated! Seeing the puzzled look on my face, Mr. Edward told me how he had held a senior management position at one of the largest Dutch telecommunications companies, and was now retired.
‘My wife and I have all the money we could ever need’, he said without a hint of hubris. ‘I do this work because I can’t sit still, and really — it drives my wife crazy if I’m around the house all day! I do this for fun and exercise, not for money… all the money I make, goes to charity.’ It took me a little while to wrap my head around what Mr. Edward had just told me. Here was this well-to-do ‘pensionado’, working twice as hard as his younger coworkers, donating all the money he made to charity… this was turning out to be a pretty special encounter!
‘I’m their last resort, Mr. Lucas’ he said jokingly. He also explained that he considered his work ‘exercise’. ‘I run, Mr. Lucas… marathons. But this is a fun way to stay fit, too!’
We chatted a while about running and about sports in general. When I mentioned that I like sports climbing, he immediately wanted to know everything about the subject. His conversational style was as engaging and energetic as his working ethic. At some point, I asked him if being ‘the substitute’ at the cleaning company was his main job. It didn't seem like a very stable source of income. A bit amused, he replied:
‘Oh no Mr. Lucas, I don’t need an income… I have an excellent pension!’ At which point, of course, I kindly inquired about his age. Much to my surprise, Mr. Edward was well within his sixties — a good 15 years older than I had estimated! Seeing the puzzled look on my face, Mr. Edward told me how he had held a senior management position at one of the largest Dutch telecommunications companies, and was now retired.
‘My wife and I have all the money we could ever need’, he said without a hint of hubris. ‘I do this work because I can’t sit still, and really — it drives my wife crazy if I’m around the house all day! I do this for fun and exercise, not for money… all the money I make, goes to charity.’ It took me a little while to wrap my head around what Mr. Edward had just told me. Here was this well-to-do ‘pensionado’, working twice as hard as his younger coworkers, donating all the money he made to charity… this was turning out to be a pretty special encounter!
I was relieved to learn I was at least right about his origins, having been so far off on his age: he was originally from Indonesia, and visited the country at least once a year. He used the money from his cleaning job to support small community projects in Indonesia.
‘But I never bring money or goods myself, Mr. Lucas… I send everything anonymously. I don’t want anyone to see me as the great philanthropist. That would be awkward!’ We chatted some more, until he announced that he was going to finish the rest of the office and drive to the next client. When he was done, he came up to my desk again, took a little bow and shook my hand. We wished each other the best of luck, and said goodbye.
‘But I never bring money or goods myself, Mr. Lucas… I send everything anonymously. I don’t want anyone to see me as the great philanthropist. That would be awkward!’ We chatted some more, until he announced that he was going to finish the rest of the office and drive to the next client. When he was done, he came up to my desk again, took a little bow and shook my hand. We wished each other the best of luck, and said goodbye.
