We all feel important to ourselves and our small circle of family and friends. This is a natural self-preservation instinct that makes us strive for success in life. But when our sense of self-importance becomes warped, we risk seeing the world around us as populated with big people and little people.
A recent news feature relating to the retirement of a cleaner from a UK bank made news in that it showed how ultimately little people are just as important as big people. Julie Cousins worked as a cleaner in a bank. She decided to retire at the age of 64 because her manager aggressively dressed her down in front of other employees.
Julie, a mother of seven and grandmother of seven, wrote a resignation note to her manager, who obviously looked at herself as a big person and regarded the cleaner as a little person. In her note that was circulated on social media, Julie wrote to her manager: “I have left the job after the way you dressed me down in the office. It was nothing more than aggressive and cruel but that’s a reflection on your character, not mine”.
Julie told a magazine: “People think it’s ‘just a little cleaning job’, but it is not. I enjoyed it. I have had seven children, look after the kids all day, get dinner ready, hubby comes in, I leave at 5pm and do the cleaning.”
The big people of this world are those who have power and authority. They are driven around by chauffeurs, have nice offices, live in comfortable homes and crave the media’s attention. They often suffer from illusions of grandeur and define themselves by their social status.
Then there are the little people: the cleaners, the messengers, those in dead-end jobs, the vagrants, the battered wives, abused children and those forced into prostitution. We do our best to avoid being little people but then we feel no inclination to support these people. We are not our brother’s keeper.
Most of us strive to control our personal environment, make a difference in our own and other people’s lives, achieve economic and professional success and become self-reliant. But there are more significant forces that are beyond our control. History, time and nature are the real forces that shape our lives.
Little people may not be able to do big people’s jobs, but big people are often equally incapable of doing little people’s tasks. Put simply, we are all of equal worth
As big people, we may be proud of our achievements in life. The day after we die closes the chapter on our self-importance. In a few weeks, months or years, we become just a footnote in history books. The world carries on. People will continue to travel, trees continue to grow and babies are born to continue the cycle of life. There is no job in the world that cannot be filled by others tomorrow.
Little people may not be able to do big people’s jobs, but big people are often equally incapable of doing little people’s tasks.
Put simply, we are all of equal worth. We are also human beings that depend on others to survive and we cannot function without others.
These reflections should make us appreciate the value of humility in our private and professional lives. There is always someone better than us in whatever we do. If we are honest with ourselves and humble enough, we must acknowledge others who achieve more success in their careers. Many little people tiptoe through life, overcoming formidable challenges that we would probably have been unable to manage.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with having big ambitions as long as we understand that in the end, we are all human beings with a right to respect.
We all make mistakes. What matters is that we learn from our mistakes and help those who need support when they stumble in their journey through life.
Type-A personalities populate the business world like the political one. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this. What is wrong is when we treat others as commodities that can be discarded when they are no longer useful to us.
The medical events of the last 18 months have shown how nature is much more potent than any of us.
Big people like prime ministers and presidents fell victims to COVID. They were rescued by little people, including nurses and paramedical staff, who no one knew about before the media spotlights were switched on.
Treating others with dignity is not so much a religious duty. It is a conviction that while we all owe our existence to others, we cannot function without others.