The second event

My facebook status, January 20, 2012:

“'If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well'.' - Martin Luther King, Jr. I have always LOVED this quote, but today I met a hotel receptionist who really truly lived this quote in her job... and it made all the difference to me. I will be ever grateful for a very passionate Costa Rican named Dora who advocates for her guests as well as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed. :)"

I mentioned in a previous post that there were two moments in which I had "learned in the moment" and realized that I was learning in the moment as it was happening. This is the story of that second experience.

How "the moment" began: 
I had traveled to Costa Rica for a Medical Spanish class, part of my CMEs for the year. Van and I were staying at the Hilton resort in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. On our last day, we had to be checked out of the room by a certain time, but I wanted to attend my last class, so we took our bags to the reception area for safe keeping while we passed the time at the beach and in class.  We had 3 bags, one each with our clothing and toiletries, and then I had a small red carry on bag that had all things valuable in it, including my brand new Macbook pro lap top and all of my jewelry -- the most important of which was my black pearl ring Van had given to me for our first anniversary.  We sandwiched that bag in between the other two bags, just for extra protection and left it in a designated room for bags that was situated behind the lobby counter at the Hilton. 

When my class had ended (around 6 pm.), we headed up to the lobby to retrieve our bags and catch a cab to the hotel located near the airport that we would be staying in that night. When we walked into the room to get our bags, there were only 2 bags in the room - our two black bags; my carry on bag that had been sandwiched between these two was not there. Needless to say, I was furious and rather distraught. We waited at the hotel for a few hours while the management team tried to locate it, but after they could not, they informed us that we needed to go. I refused. They assured us that they would continue looking, but since several of the employees seemed ambivalent about the loss of my bag, I really didn't believe them, and so I kept refusing to leave.  I tried insisting on seeing the video footage from a security camera they had in the lobby, but they wouldn't agree to it. (The next day they told me that the cameras didn't actually work (not sure if I believed this either...)). As they night wore on, I began to have no other option but to leave. It was such a helpless feeling as we drove in the taxi 45 minutes in the opposite direction of my bag. That night I barely slept. I tossed and turned, and prayed. I emailed the manager multiple times through the night explaining why I did not think they had taken me very seriously:  1. Refusing to let me look at video footage. 2. Acting as if I was overreacting. 3. Not even asking for a description of my bag. (How would they know WHAT bag to be looking for). 4. Not asking for a description of the contents in my bag. 5. Their ambivalent attitude about the whole situation. 

The manager had promised that he would call me before 9 a.m. the morning after, to update me on what was being done to find the bag. When the phone call did not come, I became even more upset, feeling more resolute than ever that someone within the hotel staff had taken my bag. I decided to catch a cab back to the hotel. I went down to the reception desk at the hotel we were staying in, and began to talk to a woman by the name of Dora. I explained to her what had happened, how upset I was, and that I needed her to call a cab for me. Dora's response was not one that I had expected - she seemed to take the situation upon herself, as if it had been her bag. She was immediately upset, sympathized with me, empathized with me, and told me she would call the Hilton Resort. The relief of having someone to share my burden with made me cry. As I sat there listening to her argue in Spanish, I felt so relieved to no longer have to defend myself in this foreign country, in my second language by myself. I had an advocate. When the hotel staff at Guanacaste told her they had looked for it, and it just was gone, her response was, "I will not accept that response."  She repeated it over and over, passionately insisting that they take responsibility for the bag in which they had agreed to take responsibility for when they let me leave it in their "secure" bag storage room, insisting that they find my bag. I cannot describe my gratitude. Even at that moment, feeling like more than likely my bag was lost, I felt grateful to Dora for caring. 

Over the hour or two that Dora advocated me, I waited. I felt she could do more for me than me returning to the hotel... and shortly after she had made her phone call my bag was "found". The explanation was that a hotel guest had accidentally taken it to his room the night before, and not realized it until this morning. Maybe this is true, I am not sure, but I do feel that without Dora's advocacy, I would not have gotten my bag back. 

The Lesson:
I was sitting on this bench in the hotel lobby near the airport, listening to Dora talk on the phone. I was thinking about how as my story had unfolded she had immediately become enraged. Whereas with the other staff at the other hotel, I had felt the need to EXPLAIN WHY I was upset, she had felt immediately an intense understanding of how upsetting this kind of situation would be. She had made my problem her problem. I thought about how most people, including myself, don't often REALLY put themselves in the position of others. How that when someone shares with me something that has upset them, how I may secretly feel that they are overreacting or that it's obviously not as bad as some upset I have experienced. I may not say that, but by my actions, I have been guilty of "not caring" enough for others'. And I don't think I'm the only one that has been guilty of this attitude. I asked myself, "Who am I to ever decide on how big or small someone's degree of hurt, distress, or pain is?"

Then, I thought about her job. Some people may not see her job as a hotel receptionist as a "meaningful" job. Some people, even Dora herself could view it as a job where she doesn't really have the OPPORTUNITY to "change the world"... and thus no reason to even try.  But as I was sitting there, I realized that any job can give us the opportunity to change lives, we just have to look for it. You don't have to go to Nigeria on a medical mission to make a difference. You can make a difference just in the way you treat others. You can make a difference in the most boring, mundane things - it's all how you approach it. 

Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with (all of) your might".

In Costa Rica, in the midst of a distressing moment, I met a woman named Dora, who did her job with all of her might. She advocated for her clients as well as Michelangelo painted, as well as Beethoven composed music, and as well as Shakespeare wrote poetry. Her actions changed my understanding of kindness. And in that understanding, she made me a better person. She, in her job as a hotel receptionist, changed my life. I hope that I can do the same for others. I will at least die trying.