Doug

It seems that most work places have a maintenance/custodial person who is always willing to set down his tools and have a chat with you. At HC, that was Bob. Here in my building at Dordt, that is Doug. I met Doug soon after starting at Dordt. That first day, he spent 20 minutes telling me how he was so far behind on that day's jobs that he was going to have to stay past quitting time. It sounded like a lot of conversations I have had with Bob. Doug is really a great guy, though, and would do anything for you which is probably part of why he gets so far behind. When he came to hang my bulletin board a couple weeks ago, he looked at the one I had been given and said, "Oh, you want a nicer one than that." He then disappeared into the recesses of the building and came back with a larger, nicer bulletin board, while also taking care to get one that still fit the spot where I had wanted to hang it.

A couple days ago, I was in the maintenance shed picking out a watermelon and a couple canteloupes. One advantage of working at a college that has an agriculture program is fresh produce. Corn is done for the season, but melons are still going strong. Doug also happened to be out there at that time. He helped me pick out some good melons (I am particularly hopeless with watermelon) and then carried them out to my car for me so I wouldn't get dirt on my clothes as the melons were still dirty from the fields. He didn't mind at all taking the time to help me. I have enjoyed getting to know Doug a bit better and really appreciate all the work he does for us here at the college.

A few weeks ago, Doug mentioned that he was having trouble with a student worker. He referred to her as the "autistic girl" on his crew. It wasn't done in a derogatory way, but I still stopped him and pointed out that he should use person-first language. I told him that I knew I sounded petty, but Dordt was paying me the big bucks to raise awareness and that I would be glad to help him with the difficulties he was having in working with this student. That has led to several conversations related to solving specific problems that have arisen. He seems genuinely appreciative of having some assistance with these problems. Also, he now refers to this student as "my young lady with autism" or simply "the young lady on my crew." Doug does a lot for us and I'm glad I could help him out just a little bit.