Who do you think of when you mop?

This may seem like an unusual question, but in the grand scheme of things there isn’t a chore or task that we don’t relate with someone else. While I mop, I am usually mentally cussing my family for being so messy, but before the floor is dry I almost always think of Mary Scott.

Who is Mary Scott?

Well, Mary was a shift manager at the Dairy Queen where I worked as a teenager.

Mary was a tough manager because she did not appreciate horseplay, slacking off, or sneaking bites of cookie dough toppings that weren’t paid for. She appreciated a job well done and sought to provide quality customer service to each customer that came through the door. She also really liked making the Blizzards thick enough to turn upside down each time one was ordered.

Many of my co-workers did not like the job of cleaning the dinning room at the end of the night. I didn’t mind it because it was easier to get clean than the hamburger grease in the kitchen. Sweeping, wiping down tables and doors, bathroom supply checks, and mopping the floor were easy enough tasks to get done so I could get out of there at the end of my shift. One night, Mary watched me mop around the last tables and the floor in front of the soda fountains. I asked if everything was okay. She smiled and said she really liked when I or my sister closed the front because it would be done right. “You girls know how to work. That’s for sure,” she added.

I don’t know why her words have stuck with me, but each time I lug a mop and bucket to clean a floor, I remember the pride I felt in her compliment. Her words also inspired me to always do the best job I could. I wanted to be the person who did a job right. Sometimes I was tempted to cut corners in my cleaning, like my colleagues having water fights in the back, but Mary’s words always caused me to be someone she could count on.

There are plenty of other jobs that make me think of those who have influenced my life. Folding laundry always makes me think of my grandma because she never thought I folded shirts correctly. Cleaning windows makes me think of my mother-in-law because she is obsessed with her windows. Handwashing dishes, dumping ice trays, and wiping down walls are all tasks that make me think of my mom, because she always told us, “I don’t make you do those things. I let you.”

No matter the chore or who influenced the way you complete it, there are connections made in life. I encourage you to think about the basic life skills that many of us take for granted and give a little (or a lot) of thanks for the opportunities to become a productive human being. Saying thanks for teaching us lifelong lessons is an awesome demonstration of Intentergy and way to let someone know they have impacted your life in a positive way.

Doing dishes, laundry, dusting, and sweeping are all things that make our homes and work places happier and healthier while also serving as exercises in ability.

If you can push a broom or a vacuum, you have the ability to use your arms or legs. Be thankful for that. If you have dishes to wash or garbage to take out, there’s a good chance you had food to eat and groceries to enhance your life. Be thankful for that.

If you have bed to make or laundry to fold, you have somewhere to be comfortable and warm. Be thankful for that.

As you take on the tasks of maintaining your household and work place, who do you think of? Who do you think of when you fix a broken door? Who do you think of as you brown ground beef or open cans of soup? Who do you think of as you put away the laundry? Be sure to give thanks for your abilities and those who helped you to be the amazing, talented, and productive individual you are.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. Mary Scott passed away in 2017, but her memory is alive and well every single time I pick up a mop and bucket or use a soda fountain. Mary, you sure knew how to work.