If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, "here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."
---Martin Luther King, Jr.
There are two important components to this wise quote from our great late civil rights leader whose birthday is marked by a national holiday this coming Monday. One speaks to those in society who might think of themselves as "better" than others engaged in what they perceive as lower-rung jobs in their social hierarchy...the other speaks to that "street sweeper", emphasizing not only that their job is significant in the eyes of God, but that they should tackle it with the same conscientiousness that they would with an endeavor human society holds in greater esteem. One of the problems I have experienced when getting to know others in adult society is the tendency for my newly-found acquaintances to puff themselves up extolling what important jobs and positions they have...in contrast, my revelation of being a postal clerk usually sounds more like that street sweeper. I've even experienced, when conversing with colleagues at work, others doing the same self-aggrandizing...this time about their pasts since their present life tends to be on my "level". Since I'm not into this one-upmanship that seems to be such an indispensable part of most people's social behavior, I tend to disengage, content with my own life. In my work life I've taken each assignment seriously and tried to perform it to the best of my abilities, and you should with your career, too. Then, I suppose if you want to get arrogant with me about the relative significance of your title, experiences or background, go ahead...doesn't mean I have to hang around to hear it...
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