Day 216; Que Sera Sera

Still finding joy in my new do

What Will Be Will Be

A few days ago, when I was in an airport and had to use the restroom; which by the way is a real chore for someone who is slightly OCD---okay maybe more than slightly, anyway, I went in hoping to find a clean stall. I came around the corner and heard someone singing. The accent had a lilt of French and a hint of the islands, so I guessed Haitian.

A young girl had just come from one stall and the singer emerged from another and immediately went in to clean the one the girl had just vacated. Before she did though, she noticed me coming in and jumped in front of me to make certain that my chosen stall was clean.

I wondered where she came from and if she could teach all employees to be so proactive with their work. Then I heard her beautiful song.

When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother what will I be

Will I be pretty, will I be rich, here’s what she said to me

Que sera, sera

Whatever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see.

Que sera, sera.

When I was young and heard Dina Shore sing this song, I thought it was sweet, but this woman singing it while cleaning a bathroom was downright concert worthy.

I came out, washed my hands and told her that I loved her singing. She smiled brightly and quoted from the Bible, Colossians 3: 23; “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as for the Lord, not men.”

I have heard many people quote this scripture, but typically, they are speaking to someone else; they are not applying it to their own work. To say she took it literally is an understatement. This beautiful woman was cleaning a bathroom and singing, Que Sera, Sera.

We talked a little longer and I shared a gift with her and then she gave me one right back. “May your gift return to you; pressed down, shaken together and running over.” Her quoting was not hollow. I felt her words and her joy for life.

I left the bathroom singing. “Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be. The future’s not ours to see. Que sera, sera.”

·         Could you find joy in cleaning a public bathroom?

·         Are you grateful for the job you have now?

·         Can you bring more life to it?

·         What if you were compensated not only for your work, but for the joy you brought to it? Would you get paid this week? (If this question makes you mad, I believe your answer is “no.”)

·         If you had a theme song, what would it be?

Be you, be well, be singing.

Bertice Berry, PhD.

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