GRANTED

I work as an administrative assistant at a computer software company in California. It's a very successful and wealthy corporate place, to say the least. I had a lot of stuff to finish before I headed home one night. After closing, the nightly office cleaners come in and begin their day of work. It’s not a shock in the county that I live in that the cleaners are Mexican. This county is the furthest thing from diverse. It is very segregated. The workers are from the poor part of town that everyone else fears-- not because there’s a lot of crime. Just because it’s the lower part of society that is overlooked. The first guy who comes in at night is Martine. He’s around 60 and is a sweet old man. He empties all of the trash cans and dusts the office. Then, in comes the woman, about 35-years-old, along with her three children. She brings them with her because she can’t afford a babysitter. They help by vacuuming and mopping the office. The four of them stay until almost 10:30 at night. By this time, Martine has already taken out all of the trash and recycling, and has caught the bus home. Around seven that night, a co-worker asked me if I would run out to the pizzeria and pick up dinner for the employees who were also staying late. I was handed $50 from petty cash and headed out the door. I picked up the food-- nine orders of lasagna and garlic bread-- and started to walk back to the office. A homeless man asked if I had any spare change. I lied and said no. I felt awful walking past him, a man who will probably be sleeping outside in forty-degree weather. Here I am with bags of hot food in my hands and change in my pocket and I walk into a nice warm executive building to eat and get paid for it. I realized that I did’t have it so bad. It made me want to take back all of the complaints I ever made about being sick of my job or being tired. People at work complain to me all of the time that there isn’t any hot coffee left, or that the fridge wasn’t stocked with the free Cokes or snacks they are given. They take these things for granted. I admit that I sometimes do, too. But when I see people struggling to just live each day, people like Martine and the cleaning woman, I feel thankful for everything I have in my life. Things I take for granted and just expect in life: food, a job, shelter and comfort.