I hated my job today. There were three thoughts that kept running through my mind as I worked: My job stinks, people can be super entitled sometimes, and I want to feel gratitude in everything. Let me give you a little background so that those three things make a little more sense.
I'm currently a student at a university and live in off-campus housing. It's one of the nicer apartment complexes so it provides a garbage pick-up service. Many of the people who live at this complex are definitely not wanting for money and they have no problem spending, spending, spending. I am not one of those people. In fact, I am the trash lady who provides the garbage services. Twice a week, I go door to door and get a peek into the lives of others as they drop their life's waste into my bin. By doing this, the managers of the apartment reduce my rent. As you can probably tell by now, my job quite literally stinks.
Living in the same apartment complex for 2.5 years has ensured that there's a special place for it in my heart. I love what I now consider home and have always felt the need to defend it when judgments arise. Many people around campus would criticize this complex and the people living here. Most complexes have a stereotype and mine was that of snobby, rich kids. Though plenty of the tenants are fairly wealthy, I never believed the stereotype due to the plethora of positive encounters I'd had with my peers. Pretty much everyone has been incredibly decent and more than humble and kind.
It wasn't until I was suddenly 'below' everybody else as the garbage lady that I realized how entitled people can really be. Picking up the trash hadn't been all bad at first. It was actually kind of fun being able to meet and talk to so many new people as I went along. As time passed, however, people started getting lazy. There are a few stipulations to the garbage pick-up and one of them is that it needs so be bagged, tied up, and ready to go. I was lax with this in the beginning because we were just getting started, but people started becoming increasingly indifferent and generated more work for me.
One girl picked up her trash can and set it down in front of me, expecting me to tie the putrid-smelling bag up for her. People will frequently put rotting food into open boxes and dump the loose trash straight into my bin. People repeatedly ask me to make exceptions for them 'just this once,' and wait while they get their crap together. People won't take out their own mess throughout the week, so by the time I come around, they have about 5-6 bags of trash.
Seeing all the waste and experiencing the rude attitudes of these people has helped me recognize how easy it is to feel entitled. No one is entitled to anything. Unfortunately, once something convenient becomes familiar and comfortable, it is very easy to except it and believe that it is completely deserved. This is a phenomenon that happens to everyone. I experience it regularly as I complain about slow service, busy traffic, my phone not loading fast enough, and when people don't treat me like the queen that I sometimes wish I was.
When I felt how other's feelings of entitlement made me feel small and below everyone else as a trash lady, I started to wonder if I ever act so entitled that I belittle someone or disregard the many blessings in my life. The answer: I do! I'm not proud of it so I'm implementing change. The cure to this contagious disease called entitlement is gratitude.
There are so many people, places, things, and experiences to be grateful for. Everyone has a purpose and that purpose can bless other people's lives. It doesn't matter if it's something as small as taking out the garbage. The servers who bring you your food. The mailman. The random person that held the door open for you. I believe that as we come to acknowledge all the good in the world around us; all the beauty, all the good deeds, and as we learn to truly feel gratitude in everything-we will live happier lives.
