After reading Tom Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains about the life of Paul Farmer, I’ve been inspired in numerous ways. One of those ways is to really greet people by name and get to know them. I feel like I’ve done a fairly good job of this with my coworkers, but I have neglected a group of people that I pass by every day: the guards.
Everywhere in Kenya there are guards at the entrances of various complexes, both for security and as another source of employment. They are around 24/7, and I think often miss human interaction as most people pass thru in cars. As I walk everywhere on foot, I have ample opportunity to greet them in a personal way.
So today I decided to learn the guards’ names, beginning with my apartment complex, in an effort to more personally great them and to treat them more as equals (like my coworkers). Swallowing my pride – of the awkwardness of asking someone’s name who you’ve seen and greeted for weeks – I’m pleased say that Oliver is the first guard I’ve met. Hopefully I will get to know him better as I learn the other guard’s names.
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