Carrying Good Spirits

Every morning I get my bagel and coffee at Tim Horton. I watch the girl there cut the bagel in half, place them in the toasting machine, take them out on a piece of paper, spread the butter or cream cheese on, cut again to make it into 4 pieces, wrap them up, put them in a little brown bag and hand it to me with a smile...

Simple job, but her spirit is part of the things that set me in the right morning mood. I love watching people do things, with rhythm and poise. This morning, there was a different girl, things kind of got stuck. I don't think she should be doing this job. People who work to serve other people especially need to have efficiency and good spirits.

I remember years back. The summer was over. I was going to back to my graduate school in another city with my classmate, V. He was working his summer job at a small hotel downtown. The taxi was waiting outside. I went into this hotel to get V from his last minute's duty at the front desk. His luggage were lying against the wall -- "I am coming right now. I already brought my stuff here," said he. While he was saying good-bye to his boss, I grabbed his two suitcases and stomped out of the hotel door. V's boss, according to him, was brightened up apparently when he saw the way I was carrying the luggages as well as myself. He commented with much appreciation, "Look at this girl. That's exactly the kind of person I want to hire!"

It's good to know I can always find a job as a porter in a hotel, as long as my age permits. And it's even better to know that I am blessed with this kind of good spirits and to carry them everywhere in life.