Seeing dirt

This may be a strange title for a blog. You may ask me what prompted me to write about such an intriguing subject. 

In a recent conversation with our son we discussed the fact that some of the young people who come into the workplace do not know how to work. He had to terminate one of his workers. They did not follow through and he had to do his work and theirs. As an excuse the reply was that he did not get mad and chew her out. 

This fits into the subject very well. When I was growing up my mother used to use that expression to help us to look for more than just our superficial tasks. We needed to be able to see dirt. In the case above the employee was not able to see dirt. That is go beyond the perceived assignment and do a complete and thorough job. In other words see dirt and take care of the dirt. 

The scriptural admonition for this is found in D&C 58:27-28. The key words are "anxiously engaged". This means you need to be proactive. You need to be motivated to see dirt. 

That reminds me of the words of a hymn that we used to sing. "Have I done any good in the world today".

The words that have been taken out are: "the world has no use for a drone." As you know there are three types of bees in a hive; the queen, the worker, and the drone.  The drone is necessary to mate with the queen, but he is not productive in producing honey. Thus the drone is a typification of laziness.

I have only had to dismiss one of the people who worked for me. She happened to be the mother of one of my son's friends. She just did not work quickly and efficiently. She was not a poor employee; she spent more time socializing with the patients and as a result did not keep up with the assigned tasks. She was distracted. 

When you are in the employment of others look for dirt and do not get distracted. 

Love,

Grandpa