Had to share this with everyone.

I read a newspaper article not too long ago about a factory a short drive from my home shutting down after having been open for ages. One of those places that was the cornerstone of the community back in the day, everyone either worked there or knew somebody who did. But, like a lot of factory jobs these days, they were finally closing up shop.

It was a food packing plant, typical factory line work of processing, canning, and shipping. In the article about the closing, they had interviewed a number of workers from the factory about their thoughts.

One fellow they talked to was an older gentleman, though I forget how long he said he had been there. His job was just to run a machine that checked to make sure the product was fully sealed and wouldn't go bad and make someone ill. They asked if he was proud of the work he had put in for so many years, and I will never forget his response.

"Of course I'm proud of my work," he said. "I was saving peoples' lives."

Think of that! Just a simple job that a good deal of people would turn up their nose at because it was trivial factory work, and he had derived such a sense of purpose from it.

When I read that, it was like getting punched in the gut. It's so easy to be cynical that you just expect it at all times. It was refreshing and a bit mind-altering to see someone say something like that. I just thought it was a nice reminder that everything we do can be significant, it's just a matter of your mindset. Who knows how many lives you touch every day without even realizing it?

Gassho
Joe