The other day I was visiting with a co-worker who just returned from a trip. We were chatting along when Donnie, our janitor, came in to pick up my trash. I reached over to hand him my wastebasket and said, "Well, now you know the kind of day I had yesterday." There were a bunch of mini-Snicker bar wrappers in the trash. We all laughed and my co-worker said, "You can tell a lot about a person by their trash." She's right. You sure can.
When Donnie sees an empty potato chip bag, he knows someone was into getting a salt fix. When he sees lots of scrunched up paper and torn-up envelopes, he knows lots of letter writing went on there. He also knows when someone decides to clean their office area by the amount of paper towels in the trash and the lingering scent of cleaning products.
Donnie can tell all sorts of stories about the people who work in our office -- just by the trash he removes. Empty cups, empty medicine bottles, lots of papers, gum wrappers, banana peels, receipts, tissues -- whatever -- all that trash leaves behind a trail of what we've been doing. He knows when someone's been coming in early and staying late. He may even ask, "How's that big project coming along?" Startled -- that person wonders -- how did he know that? The clues are in the trash. He dumped fast food breakfast wrappers and disposable coffee containers one day and more fast food wrappers and empty soda cups the next. Donnie knows us well. He knows that just by being observant. We are our trash.
A few months ago, I made the acquaintance of a woman who was attending an art reception at a local art gallery in Jefferson City. We were chitchatting about the young artist's work on display and I asked her if she was an artist too. She said, "Well...yes...sort of..." and she laughed a bit. I was curious and asked her if she was going to tell me what that really meant -- and she did.
She works in a law firm and has been there many years. Her passion is painting but she never shared that part of her life with anyone outside of her family. No one at her workplace knew she loved to paint. She finished a piece she really liked and decided to have it matted and framed. Even though she was a little hesitant about hanging it in her office at first -- she did. One day, her boss noticed it. He told her he really liked the painting in her office -- and talked about the subject matter and the colors the artist used. He didn't know it at the time, but when he talked about how much he liked the painting, he was validating her work. He asked her who the artist was and she told him she created the painting. He was dumbfounded. He had no idea she was an artist and neither did her co-workers. Her boss and co-workers learned something new and interesting about her.
Our trash hold all our "secrets" -- but so do the areas where we work. You can tell a lot about a person by what's in their office or cubicle. We are our work areas.
Look around in your own area. See all that stuff lying on your desk? Look at the pictures and things on your shelves and walls. All the knick-knacks, little signs, cartoons posted, the plants you tend, the little things you treasure or collect that you brought in to work and put on a shelf. The stuff in your office or cubicle can tell a lot about you.
Have you noticed your co-workers works areas? Have you jumped to conclusions? Not paid any attention? Have you asked any questions? Are you observant? Do you know some cool stuff about the people you work with?
Here's some interesting observations after a walk-through our building. There's a tiny glass bluebird on someone's shelf. What's the story behind the sign, "Be Still and Know"? What's the significance of the large hourglass in that person's office? Would you want to know about the collection of little hippos in someone's cubicle? The stuffed tiger? The pink flamingo? The sand dollar that's lying next to the rock? The blue silk butterfly? The small dartboard set? The large wooden box on a shelf next to family photos? The red wooden chicken? There are bound to be some good stories there. All clues.
Perhaps we're not so different from one another. If you take a little time to visit with the folks you work with, you may learn something new and interesting about them you didn't know before. The artist I met can testify to that. Try it. You might be pleasantly surprised!
