The Power of Recognizing the Overlooked: A Reflection on the Importance of Simple People

Western society worships at the altar of position. Whether it be business, religion, government, or academia, the guy at the top gets the spotlight.

That leaves someone else, someone more important, in the dark.

Once, I had a half-day layover in London. I caught a train and went downtown to wander around. I did not know where I was going but stumbled onto what I wanted to see—Westminster Abbey.

The cathedral is majestic. Walking its halls, you see the “greats” of Western civilization. Kings, scientists, and authors find their final resting place there. Queen Elizabeth is buried foot-to-foot with her nemesis on earth, Mary, Queen of Scots.

I stood in awe of the power of the place.

Then, as I started to walk, I got lost. I ended up in a hallway off the main hall. I thought, “No one famous rests here.”

On the floor are graves from before 1000 A.D. One of those is from 976. He was a janitor of the Abbey.

I thought, “Here lies a simple sweeper of floors amidst kings and giants.”

Someone thought to recognize the majesty of simplicity.

Our world overlooks so many people. Think about the people you meet every day, simple people. Secretaries answer phones. Waitstaff endures pushy and sometimes rude customers. Uber drivers take in people and hope for the best. Grocery clerks scan items.

Imagine what life would be without such people. Without them, life would grind to a halt. (I get reminded when I realize that restaurants are short-staffed now.) The reason is the unknowns were not there to do their job.

Do you take the time to recognize them?

I think of a particular friend. She always asks for the server’s name when she orders food at a counter. “I like to do business with people I know,” is her reason. She has taken the faceless and made them human.

It is such a simple thing but such a powerful statement. People are not things but people. We destroy a little more of our society when we overlook the ones easily overlooked.

When the people serving no longer serve, we no longer live. That’s how vital the overlooked become to us, whether we recognize it or not.

A story (probably apocryphal) of a college professor distributing final exams puts an exclamation mark on this lesson. The professor said, “Before you turn your paper over and begin, I have a few things to say. First, this counts for half of your grade. Second, once you finish the exam, you may leave. Now, you may turn over your paper and begin.”

On the paper was a single question. “What is the name of the man who cleans this classroom that you see daily?”

Would you pass or fail that class?

Someone went to the trouble to make the final resting place of a janitor Westminster Abbey. We can take time to take notice of the overlooked and appreciate what they do.