Today I discover why I love my job. In a gray afternoon, a lonely and destitute looking man, walk into my office looking for a job. He looks beat-up and run-down. I offer him a seat at my desk. He afraid to take a sit, until I insisted. When he settles down, I begin to ask his background and experience to better understand his skill sets. And that is how it all starts. I begin to understand myself. I begin to understand another human being at the same token taking into appreciation about my job as a temporary agency. I am finally able to understand why I wake up every morning to go to work.
“I used to live in Ottawa”, he said, “with my family and children”. The story unraveled as a brick wall hit me. It hurts, like someone kicks you in the nuts. He worked for a manufacturing company for 15 years. With the job he supported his whole family, until that change in an instant. The company went through some restructuring and he got laid-off. Things went out of control afterward. His wife kicked him out of the house. With a few dollars in his pocket he, he brought a bus ticket to Toronto, hoping to start a new life. Through some referral he came to my office looking for work. “Any job will do,” he said, “I could do anything”. I could feel that he was desperate, almost pleading for a job: to work, to get some money. In his eyes, I could see that if it requires kneeling down on one knee and begging – he would. I felt so sorry for him: a hard workingman, who needs a job to feed himself.
After finding the position, which fit with his skill sets. I wrote down the address for him to go to work tomorrow. To be considerate, I ask where about does he lives, that was when he confessed to me that he been living in the many shelters around the city. My heart scream for the guy: he is homeless; furthermore he told me he hasn’t eaten anything since this morning. My heart skipped a beat, I felt sorry for him. Nonetheless, I felt so proud of him because wouldn’t beg at the street corner like the many lazy bums I seen around. He was willing to work to eat; an attitude that I much admired. I pulled out a twenty dollars bill and hand it to him, stating that it was his early pay for the work he will be doing tomorrow. He picked up the money, looked at it, with eyes of astonishment. Then he did the surprising thing. He held my hand and cried. In his most honest voice, he thanked me. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to tell him to work hard and things will be better; like the many times it had happened to me, things will away get better; but I was fighting hard to keep my emotional in check. I didn’t want the office turn to a drama series. I kept quite. I looked away, afraid, to look into his eyes. He wept his tears a few seconds later and leave, promise to be on time to work.
When he left my office, I sat down in my chair and work out in my mind what just happened. A grown man brought to tears because of my action. I help him out when he needed most – I help him get a job: an opportunity for him to get back on his feet. That was then I finally realized why I started this business. The intention was to make money, but ultimately helping people like him getting a job. Helping people to help themselves instead of depending on our social system for a monthly stipend, is what I do, thus, I love my job more because of such individual.
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