Back when during my university years I got to know the facilities manager of our school. Everyone knew him, really, and he knew everybody, especially the students active in the student association. Need to book a room for an evening event? Talk to Azad. Access pass not working? Talk to Azad. Want to borrow a trolley to move a large pile of paper? Talk to Azad.

I was told that he had started out as a lowly janitor and worked his way up. He had energy, people skills, and a can-do attitude, and he took his job seriously.

Some cleaners, on the other hand, will never become anything much better than cleaners. At work I see our cleaning staff shuffle around slowly with bored faces. When they empty a rubbish bin, they take away the bag by dragging it behind them, even though the bag weighs next to nothing. They never move fast and never show any real engagement in their work.

A lady comes by to clean our home once every two weeks. She’s been doing it since we first moved to this apartment four years ago. Whenever she has cleaned, the first thing we do when we get home is redo the bin bag in the kitchen. When she changes it, she puts the new bag over the handle of the inner bin, so you cannot lift it out by the handle. In the four years she’s been coming here, she has either not noticed that the bin has a handle which can be used for lifting, or not cared.

I just don’t understand that sort of mindset. How can you care so little for what you do?