There’s always that talk that cleaning is done by the lowest and poorest of people. By some that are willing to go low, if they’re ready to tackle the obstacles that this job has to offer, setting their goals and requirements even lower. Basically, forgetting they have got any principals. It was until those couple of weeks since I arrived at those offices, that I thought the same too. But what I saw there was something that never really happens in the real world… something extraordinary. A man with very unusual concepts. A janitor millionaire.
Here is where I want to leave a few words for Arthur Hopkins, to tell his story. Or at least, what I managed of found out about him. Hopkins is a man who for the past 10 years, managed to hold on to the job of a hygiene technician, just because of who he is. And he is truly a humble man, a funny character and an awesome person. From what the CEO told me, Hopkins was never all that good at what he does and after the evaluation, the best and most reasonable and sensible thing to do was to sack him. But he didn’t do that. Something about the overall expression of this man, forced him to leave him at work here. And seeing as how he was around people I could see why. There’s something about this man that just makes you smile.
I never got the opportunity to have a proper conversation with Arthur, due to my job being what it is, but from what the others in the facility told me, his story is quite colorful. When he was a small boy he lost his parents in a horrible accident, leaving him an orphan. He didn’t have any living relatives or any that he was aware of… well until recently. So he grew up in an orphanage. Being a bad student and constantly taking harassment from the other children. But despite this, he never became a bad man. Even then, the caretakers were saying that he always helped out in the course of their miserable jobs.
And later when he was old enough and had to leave the orphanage and get a job he randomly came here. And so far he’s been here for the past ten years. A couple of weeks ago, a letter addressed to him informed his that a distant aunt of his, left him an estate and some millions in her off-shore accounts as heritage before passing away. Odd blood line isn’t it?
But still, he remains a janitor, washing windows, taking out trash and unclogging toilets. Still smiling and greeting everyone warmly. And he really isn’t affected by the fact that he is rich and a world of opportunity is ahead of him. The only difference is that he has received a dozen marriage proposals in the last few weeks.