Mistaken Appreciation?
Are we applauding for the temporary heroes while not seeing the invisible saviors?
A short story to put into perspective the meaning of this article
In a silent town, there lived an old man who served the local municipality as a sweeper for about five decades. Over the years he saw buildings rise, factories thrive and dense driveways. As people rushed through the street to get to their place of work, the race against time always amused the elderly sweeper as for him life was all about living and breathing these little moments of life.
He never had the best grades in school, did not have the luxury to pursue a better education or job. The best luck he had so far was the kindness of the local municipality to provide him with the means to lead a life. Once in a while he would see from the corner of his eye a small child rushing up to their parents and urging them to attend the nearby circus show, or the bunch of high energy youths howling through the wind beating the air against their chest as they rode with style on their bikes.
Never did he ever feel jealous of the life the rest got to live for his best gift that destiny ever gave him was a shack at a mile from the wasteland that he was able to make from the rubbles and forgotten goods others left behind. It kept him warm during the nights and protected him from the scorching heat during the day. An onlooker, if any, would say life was not fair to him a slightest bit but to the unnamed sweeper, he was grateful for the breath he took every morning when we opened his eyes.
Not many people got to know him quite well. People say that no one will ever accompany us through our whole journey from birth till demise but rather a crowd will share space with us for short spans in between. Yet, for our sweeper, loneliness was truly his companion as people rarely ever identified him beyond his role in the society. At times even he would take a moment to recollect his name because he never gets a chance to tell anyone.
Being the month of autumn, the trees were shedding a lot of leaves and this meant extra work for the elderly sweeper, which to be frank, was not an issue as he was very well familiar with every season of the year. But this autumn was different because he was feeling quite unwell. It rarely ever happened because most of his diet was quite repetitive and his body was quite well tuned yet this time some ingredient did not agree with his body.
He kept ignoring about it but when the condition worsened he decided to take rest at home, to follow his natural medicines that was passed down through generations which at times, he wonders if the world of today will forget it. The medicines leave him craving for sleep and minimal body exertion. The recovery takes time and before he knows it, a week passes by.
He returns back to duty. The municipal authority is very disappointed in his lapse of duty and the attendant at the office takes over ten minutes to give a big lecture for failing his duty, even goes to the extend of threatening him of loosing the job. Through all this only a single thought passes through the sweepers head:
‘How many leaves are left unswept?’
He rushes back to his location of duty and much to his surprise he sees a very different scene. Several people are crowded at the location, some sounds of cheering and encouragement while other sounds of distrust in the municipalities sincerity to the task. When he took a step closer, he realized what had happened.
The men from the middle class were sweeping the leaves aside and clearing the way. People were cheering and capturing photos and some where even explaining to the camera about how these men took up their brooms to fix their neighborhood due to failure from the local municipality to address the problem. When these men, who looked quite tired from all the work, were done sweeping they were greeted with applauds and cool drinks to appreciate their selflessness to act. The elderly sweeper was still invisible amidst the crowd and when people left the place, he sat down on the nearby bench.
For the first time in several years, tears started rolling down from his eyes. He felt broken deep inside to have failed his duty and bring shame to the local municipality that had given him the peaceful life he lived so far. It also felt unfair to think that people were highly supportive of the efforts of three men who worked for about ten minutes in the spotlight while never spoke of the elderly man who swept the same spot for decades, seeing most others grow from children to responsible adults. He cried thinking how the world only complains when problems arise and never appreciate the peace that they take for granted.
Just as he was getting drained into a train of thoughts, someone tapped him on the shoulders. It was the garbage collecting lady and she seemed to have understood what had just happened. She spoke up:
“Danny, no one has the time to sit back and look at monotonous routines. The world needs us but cannot see us beyond our roles. I know it is unfair and justice can never be served rightfully, but sometimes being the unspoken heroes makes us feel even more powerful.”
In the age of digital media where we all strive to have a lot of followers and climb up the ladder, it becomes easier to see right past the obvious details in our vicinity. We appreciate the ones who take a step to make a difference but how often do we think deeper to see who is the one we really need to thank? Everyone looks up in awe at the accomplishments of a business tycoon because societal prestige speaks louder than actions. Yet, there are many who live under the radar, undetected who take every effort to make a difference in their locality.
In a way, the belief in the existence of a greater entity promises a good life after the one on earth for people like Danny who lead a life of hardships in this world. This hope acts as the fuel to keep them going. Some call it Karma while others feel it is the balancing of overdue transactions by destiny.
When we stop satisfying the needs and standards set by our society and work towards what one feels is impact, be it poetry, art or minimal task, internally we start to look beyond the metrics and discover inner peace in simplicity.
It is important to note that in this heavily intricate world we live, not all transactions are balanced. Appreciation is an expensive commodity, so think twice before you gift someone a bit from it.
