What a toilet cleaner taught me about being happy with less
The cleaning lady was a reminder to be happy with what I have, even as I aspire for more.
What you need to know:
- My final reflection is on parental sacrifice. I have no idea how much a toilet cleaner at JKIA earns.
- However, I know that taking a child through university on that salary is a depth of love and sacrifice that words cannot fully capture.
- That cleaner reads to me like the kind of mother or father who would go to the ends of the world, regardless of the circumstances, to give her children a chance.
On Sunday, a friend narrated to me how a toilet cleaner at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport had inspired her. Before ushering my friend into the toilet, the cleaner asked for a second to thoroughly clean the seat with sanitiser; she then flushed the toilet before quickly ushering my friend in.
Impressed by the impeccable service, my friend decided to tip her. She asked for her phone number to send her money via M-Pesa. As the transaction happened, the two got into a chat during which my friend discovered that the cleaner loves her job very much. She said the job sustains her, and it is through that job that she is paying university fees for her child.
This story corrected everything I believed.
In high school, washing toilets was always presented as a punishment. The fear of cleaning toilets is the real reason I stopped making noise in class! Somewhere along the way, I had subconsciously concluded that no one could be happy cleaning toilets for a living.
Even as a household chore, cleaning toilets was something I only did after running out of all other options. Well, I know washing dishes is hardly glamorous either. But in my lifetime, I have met people who swear that washing dishes is their favourite household task. I am yet to meet anyone who gets a kick out of cleaning toilets. If you are one of them, kindly step forward. I will be happy to meet you!
The woman’s posture also challenged me. She recognised that the job sustained her. In an era where other people’s lives are constantly in our faces and it always seems like everyone is doing better than we are, everywhere we turn we get the sense that more is better – in songs, social media posts, talk shows, movies, glossy magazines and vlogs. The conversation between my friend and the toilet cleaner was another lesson on contentment for me. While there is nothing wrong with having a bigger dream and pushing for even greater heights, I shouldn’t lose sight of what I already have. The cleaning lady was a reminder to be happy with what I have, even as I aspire for more.
Also read: Money Talks: Are you being paid your worth?
My final reflection is on parental sacrifice. I have no idea how much a toilet cleaner at JKIA earns. However, I know that taking a child through university on that salary is a depth of love and sacrifice that words cannot fully capture. That cleaner reads to me like the kind of mother or father who would go to the ends of the world, regardless of the circumstances, to give her children a chance.
My least favourite quote is from The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. It says, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” The truth in it comes with a stinging finality that is uncomfortable. That is precisely why I love to hate that quote. We cannot choose the cards fate deals us. And my friend’s conversation with the cleaner showed me just how aptly someone could embody this quote. The jovial cleaning lady goes about her work, lovingly attending to her clients, and is able to make something of her life. She has chosen how to play the cards that fate has handed her.
Perhaps the greatest lesson she leaves me with is this: a fulfilling life is not necessarily one in which we have everything we want, but one in which we learn to find joy in the life we are living. Although that woman may never earn a hero’s medal, my friend has crowned her a shujaa, and Daisy’s World celebrates her.
Postscript 1: I will have more conversations with people I usually do not speak to in my environment. After my friend’s experience, I am convinced they carry great life lessons.
Postscript 2: I will reevaluate my relationship with cleaning toilets and banish the wrong notions I carried from high school.
The writer is the Research & Impact Editor, NMG. [email protected]
