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Season for decency
’Tis the season. We ho ho ho. We fa la la. We stress. We stay up late. We get up early. We spend too much. We eat too much. We drink too much. It’s the season, for sure. And Christmas always makes me think of being a kid on Sunset Trail.
We went to a parochial school in the Village of Weston. Around this time of the year, I’d be completely focused on my wants. One year, however, I remember wanting to make a special greeting card for my teacher. My dad was quite the artist and I remember that year how he patiently helped me get the picture on the front of the card just right. I believe I might have been in grade three at the time.
Then Dad asked me if I might be thinking of making a card for Mr. Swanic. Mr. Swanic was the custodian at the school. He was a janitor. He was the guy we, the students, sought out when paint was spilled or ink wells and toilets overflowed. Mr. Swanic was the fellow who kept the boiler stoked and, once each year, spent a recess on the roof of the school throwing rubber balls and balsa wood gliders back to a throng of screaming students below. Mr. Swanic was Mr. Swanic the Janitor.
I made the mistake of saying something along the lines of, “But Dad, Mr. Swanic is the janitor.” I thought, as young and as wise as I was, perhaps my dad was too old to have a clue about janitors and their place in the big picture of a little kid’s world. Silly me. Being only seven or eight, I was treated to a lesson about respect, honour and humility.
Sniffling and tearyeyed, with Dad’s help I made a Christmas card for Mr. Swanic. Being a blockhead, I remember, whining about how I would deal with the teasing I would get from other kids if they saw me give the janitor, of all people, a Christmas card. I believe Dad’s response was along the line of “what other people think of you is none of your business” and “be respectful of everyone”. Not those words exactly, but something to that effect.
After that, I noticed that my dad always spoke kindly with, and of, the “Mr. Swanics” of the world. Had he always been a kindhearted man and I was to self-centred to notice? Likely. Dad’s lesson was a great one, but I took me a very long time to appreciate what a good man my dad was. It also took a very long time to really learn the lesson. As it turned out, I had to live it to learn it. I had to be the “Mr. Swanic” to understand.
So, how does this fit with the season? Glad you asked. I’ve noticed a lot of social media postings about being kind to retail and service workers during the holiday season. I wince when I read the comments and postings. Along with the moaning and groaning about getting the holiday greetings right, folks seem to be focused on being kinder and gentler during the month or so leading up to Christmas. I don’t get it. If you’re normally an obnoxious, smug piece of mouldy fruitcake all year long, do you get some kind of pleasure out of being a reasonably decent human being during “the season? And do you only extend that to people whom you consider beneath your “station”? You know, for the extra points. Come on. We all know better than that.
Seriously kids, it’s time to be respectful and kind to everyone, every day, all the time, no matter the season. We’re all deserving of kindness and respect. Am I right? I am. Ho ho ho and fa la la la la.
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