Beyond the call of duty

“Work is the natural exercise and function of man. Work is not

primarily a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do. It

is, or should be, the full expression of the worker’s faculties, the

thing in which he finds spiritual, mental and bodily satisfaction,

and the medium in which he offers himself to God.”

-- DOROTHY L. SAYERS

Ideally, everybody would love his or her job, but this is not an

ideal world. Even if you enjoy your work, there are days when you’d

rather be doing something else.

Many people go beyond the call of duty in their jobs. We have a

wonderful mailman named Mike. Mike faithfully delivers our mail even

when the address is incorrect. Many of the houses look alike in our

neighborhood, but Mike gets the mail to the right home.

Mike always asks about our family and seems to know everybody on

our street by name. He talks to young and old alike and waves as he

passes. I’m sure there are times Mike would rather be somewhere else,

but I’ve never heard him complain.

I watched firemen make a little girl’s day recently when I drove

to a Trader Joe’s market. There was an extra-long fire truck parked

outside and when I went in, I spotted three firemen shopping for

groceries. When I finished and waited at the checkout stand, I spoke

with a woman at the stand next to me. She had a baby boy strapped in

front of her, and a little girl sat in the cart. The young girl had

long blond hair, piercing blue eyes and a grin that stretched from

ear to ear.

The little girl held a can of corn.

“You’re daughter must like corn,” I said.

“Yes, she does, but she’s smiling like that because of the

firemen,” the woman said.

The three firemen were paying at the stand just beyond the mother

and children. The little girl looked over at them and looked back

with an even bigger smile.

The mother turned to the uniformed men and said, “My daughter

loves firemen.”

They smiled back.

“When we bought her a ‘big-girl’ bed, she wouldn’t have anything

to do with anything frilly,” the mother continued, “No, she would

only go for a little fire truck bed, so that’s what she has.”

Then one of the firemen walked over and offered the girl a sticker

of a fire truck. You would have thought he had given her a million

cookies or a million cans of corn. Her eyes and smile grew even

larger.

“Can I give one to your little brother, too?” The girl was

speechless but nodded “yes.” The fireman placed a sticker on the girl

and her brother.

Everybody within earshot or eyesight smiled.

“I love little acts of kindness and blessings,” my sales clerk

said. “God bless you firemen.”

They smiled and waved as they left and headed toward their truck.

The mother followed so that the little girl could see the truck and

wave goodbye to the men.

It is heart-warming to see people enjoy their work, go above and

beyond the call of duty, and go out of their way to help or encourage

others.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at

cindy@onthegrow.com or through the mail at 537 Newport Center Drive #

505, Newport Beach, CA 92660.