Copyright © Louis Schmier and Atwood Publishing.
Date: Sun 11/17/2002 5:51 AM
Random Thought: Go On A Fast
On this chilly, damp Sunday morning I was thinking about a person
I only met last week. I wish I had meet him years ago. His name is Glen
Touchton. He is the plumbing foreman for the University. He is a member
of a major university strategic planning committee which I was crazy
enough to volunteer to co-chair. I don't know if it was by accident or it
was a deliberate act that he sitting on this particular committee that is
going to wrestle with vast Gordian issues of student learning, retention,
and graduation. I do know--now--he has been operating by a strategic plan
of his own that he and I wish everyone would follow: he cares. He truly
cares. He cares about doing more than a good job; he cares about VSU; he
cares about each student.
At the committee's first meeting, he made some of the most
important and insightful comments. At one point, however, he punctuated
his words with a self-demeaning "now, I only got through high school...."
That scared me. From his comments and my experience I knew he was up to
now, like most staff personnel, an unnoticed and unheeded resource, an
untapped fountain of experience and wisdom. I wanted to make sure he
would actively participate and speak, that he would be a voice on that
committee. I know our new President and his Strategic Planning Officer
don't think that he was there for mere appearance. I wanted to make sure
he didn't think of himself as mere fluff. So, I arranged to speak with
him privately. I am so glad I did, for I discovered that I needn't have
worried. And, I started to know one neat and highly intelligent person
whose caring attitude hold a lot of water.
For over an hour one day last Friday I sat mesmerized. I found
the fellow-traveler and a kindred spirit I suspected I saw at that
meeting. He knew all about me. Sadly, I didn't know about him until we
met for the first time at the committee meeting. For over an hour I
didn't say a word. I sat silently, intently focused, listening, learning.
For over an hour, we never lost eye contact. I stared into his kindly,
almost cherub face. His feelings were soft and caring. His words were
commonsensical and fraught with penetrating insight. Too many would
arrogantly pass him off as "What does a plumber know?" or "He only has a
high school education." Well, I can tell you that after hearing his brief
biography, he has a Ph.D. from the "School of Hard Knocks" with a major in
common sense and he better be heard. He is on "the front lines." He is
often in closer contact with students than are faculty. He sees and hears
a lot more and has a tighter grasp of the reality of what goes on than do
most administrators and faculty. He's got the all important
feet-on-the-ground "street smarts" that's so often more critical than
"book learning."
Listen to some bits and pieces of his words as I remember them:
....the students are my real boss. We're here for them. Without them,
we don't exist, none of us gets paid....
....too many are thinking only about themselves. A lot of us are fighting
each other and don't have a sense of seeing beyond themselves and
belonging to his University....
....except for a few, faculty and administrators don't walk through the
campus and stop or sit down with students and staff people to just talk
and get to know them....some don't notice people around them and smile at
them. It's like people don't exist to them....you know, just a simple
'hello' does a lot for people. It says they're worth saying 'hello'
to....
....this isn't just a paying job for me.....I love this college....I love
the students.....they're our future....in my way I can have an influence
on that future....
....parents have put them into our care and we have to care for them and
we have to care about them as if they were our kids....
....if the plumbing ain't working right or the food don't taste good or
the place is a mess or someone shows they don't care whether they're here
or not, they know we don't truly care about them as persons, and they're
out of here....
....one month they're teenagers in high school living with mommy and daddy
being taken care of, the next month they're here, on their own, alone,
living with strangers in strange surroundings eating strange food,
confused, having to make friends, having to buy their own food, do their
own laundry, finding jobs, being confused, being disciplines, homesick,
learning how to make decisions on their own....
....being here should be like raising our own kids....they're good kids.
We should see that....
....we call them children and treat them as such when it suits us, and
look at them as adults and treat them as such when it suits us. Most of
them are still youngsters learning the ropes of living, practicing being
on their own. They don't change that fast from the month they were in
high school to the month they're here. We've got to understand that and
help them in any way we can. All of us have to do that whether we're
secretaries or plumbers or cooks or security or....
....a lot of faulty say why do we have to cut the grass or trim the bushes
or spend a lot of money on those things. Well, it's like dressing right.
It shows back on us....
....this place rests on a tripod that has to be balanced. There's the
Plant Ops, the students, and the faculty. This here place is a community.
Everyone is important. If one of the legs is not set right, the whole
thing is going to tip over....
....we should being doing things because it right doing them and we're
doing everyone right by doing them. It's not just to stop and solve a
problem and then going about doing things the way you've always done it
waiting for another problem to come along....My job is to be the best
plumber I can be because it's the right thing to be. If I am, I won't be
seen....My job is to prevent problems from happening. If I do my job and
keep the plumping working, no one will notice I'm around. That's how it
should be...
Well, on this point I think Glen is wrong. He should be seen. He
has to be seen and heard. His counsel should be sought. He should be
listened to, as should his fellow members of the university staff.
Remember the words of Thomas Wolfe? I think it was Wolfe who said that a
society with all philosophers and no plumbers will not last any more than
will a society with all plumbers and no philosophers because neither will
hold water. That is true of our campuses.
The Hopi Indians believe that our daily rituals are prayers that
literally keep this world spinning on its axis. For Glen, being at VSU for
the students is a daily prayer. It is both a figurative and literal
devotional act to sustain the world and ensure its future.
So, I have a challenge. Next time you're on campus, go on a fast.
Refrain from all whining and complaining. Don't say an unkind word to
anyone. Don't think an unkind thought about anyone, including yourself.
Don't do an unkind deed. Don't think you're the star of the show. Walk
and notice only the good stuff. Look as if you're seeing each person on
campus for the first--or the last. Smile at them. Say "hello" to them.
See the beauty in their imperfections. Summon what the Sufis call the
fragrance of the Beloved in each one. Treat each person caringly with
care. Be a welcoming presence. Go so far as to say silently a brief
grace as you look at each student, colleague, administrator, staff person:
"Blessed, therefore, is everyone...."
Imagine if each one of us went on this hearty diet. Imagine if
each one of us cleansed our spiritual arteries of those unhealthy fatty,
clogging, unproductive, unsatisfying, negative cholesterols. Imagine how
much healthier would our attitudes and actions be.
I assure you it is not easy. You'd be amazed at how many negative
words we utter and negative thoughts we think each day. But, if you can
do it, as Glen struggles to do it, if you say and think only what is
heartfelt, you'll find that you can turn the monster into a prince or
princess with a simple, loving kiss.
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