Hail, Great Leader! Mop Faster!

© 2008 Stan Spire



A photo in the local (news)paper: two visiting students from China mopping a floor in a building owned by a community service organization, free of charge.

What was the occasion? These students and others were participating in “Leadership Day,” a special program sponsored by local colleges to give leadership skills and experience that the students could take back to their country.

So what does mopping floors as an unpaid volunteer have to do with leading others? Maybe someone got “leader” mixed up with “coolie.” With the economy being so bad, you gotta make do with what you’ve got. Calling janitor work a “leadership skill” fits the bill – a bill of goods, that is.

After all the years I worked as a janitor, I should be qualified to be US president. (But I’m probably disqualified because I was paid minimum wage.)