Yesterday a window washer came into my office to wash my windows. I found the experience fascinating. Not because I had never seen someone wash office windows before. But because I have.
My summer job before my freshman and sophomore years in high school was working at the office complex where my dad worked in Vermont. I was on the grounds crew. Actually, I was the grounds crew. (It was just me and ol’ ground.) I also helped with construction as they built and remodeled buildings. I painted and did other odd jobs. The odder the better.
But on days when it rained, Frank Gilman, the owner of the office complex, sent me inside to wash windows.
I hated that job.
In fact, if we were sitting around a dinner table, bar or campfire and we started swapping stories about the worst jobs we have ever had, mine would be washing windows. And mind you, I have shoveled manure and picked rocks out of fields all day long.
The last time I was asked to wash windows I washed a couple and then said I wasn’t feeling well so that I could go home. I wasn’t exactly lying. Because I was really sick of washing windows.
But the man in my office washing windows clearly enjoyed his work. He was experiencing no pain from all those panes. I’m no doctor, but he didn’t look the least bit sick of washing all those windows.
Realizing that I could learn something from this man, I asked him how long he had been washin’ dem windows.
He proudly replied, ’30 years!’
Wow!
30 frickin years!
What struck me about his response was that it contained the enthusiasm that I would offer if someone asked me how long I have worked in advertising.
Yet this man had made an entire career out of my least favorite job of all time.
But I didn’t tell him he was wrong. And that his job was horrible. Or that I would have rather spent the past 30 years in the Gulag than firing Windex and dragging squeegee.
Instead, I sought understanding. I asked him what he liked best about his job.
He smiled and replied, ‘The views.’
Key Takeaway
We are all wired differently. We see, experience and enjoy the world differently. Your views and opinions are your own. They are not universal. There are other humans with very different ideas and ideals than you. And there is far more value in learning from others whose experiences and choices are different than yours than in telling others how wrong they are for being different. Step back and see the big picture. It offers quite a view.
*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.
+For more of the best life lessons the universe has taught me, check out my new book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.
Adam Albrecht Blog 
Good comment. But it can really go further. People today don’t respect each other’s views. And in many cases, not only don’t they respect them, they deny them. If we can just realize that we are all different and try to look at things from another person’s viewpoint, we will have more respect and acceptance of each other. And importantly, more respect for others’ rights as separate individuals too.
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