Today I bear witness to triumph.
The event occured whilst rushing through a task at work which involves running garments from our stores fitting room back to the customer display area. It’s often a hurried job and I regularly fall into tunnel like focus while completing the task. As I scanned the area looking to where I might put the item I clutch, my attention was grabbed by the utterance of my name.
As I looked around trying to localise the source, I saw my team member Daniel marching up the escalator, eyes filled with an intensity I seldom see, locked onto my position.
Before I continue, it would be useful to provide some backstory to the type of relationship Daniel and I share. Daniel was a third year engineering student and had been working at this retail job casually whilst he studied. He was already working for about a year before I was hired. He is southeast asian, about 5’8 and has a subtle charisma about him. He is soft spoken but well socialised, holding friendly relations with most of the people from our work place. The only time we’ve met outside of work was briefly down by the river ( which divides central and south Brisbane ) after what looked like a night out drinking, playing casanova with a girlfriend.
Two weeks prior, Daniel was describing the final few weeks of his university life for he was due to graduate on the upcoming weekend. He shared with me his class grades for his final semester. “I ended up getting two sevens and a six” he said nonchalantly ( seven is the highest grade you can receive at the university he attended). Upon hearing this I lit up in excitement, patting him on his shoulder and continued to profusely congratulate him on such incredible results. He gave a laugh and was taken aback. “Man, you’re more excited than me to hear this!” he said. He went on to tell me that he was beginning to sit for interviews for different positions now that he was due to graduate. He seemed genuinely happy to share his excitement.
I’ve read that a true friend is someone you can tell your bad news to and they won’t tell you how they’ve had it worse or immediately try and find a solution, disregarding your current sense of loss. I’ve also heard that a good friend is someone who you can tell good news to and they’ll celebrate with you as if the good things are happening to them directly. I believe it’s important to positively reinforce good behavior when you see it. Sometimes sharing positive news about your own life can be daunting, thus it’s important to reward individuals for sharing theirs. I try to abide by these principles and managed to remember it at the time Daniel told me the news of his results, and I'm glad I did.
Coming back to the event I mentioned at the beginning, Daniel storming up the escalator. I smile thinking back on it now because I have not experienced such intense energy from an individual in a long time. His eyes were locked onto me even though he had to navigate around several slow moving customers, it was as if his brain was split, one component to take care of the rudimentary and the other was completely focused on attaining his goal. After what seemed like minutes of him traveling across seven meters to my location, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the side, out of scope of managers and other staff.
I was slightly confused but mostly curious to what had sparked such intense energy in this man. He spoke to me, with such excitement “Y-y-ou know that job I applied for ?! I got it ! I got the job !!”. The words coming out of his mouth were electric. I felt a warm glow ignite inside me, which continued to swell throughout my being as I understood the meaning of this news more deeply. I felt filled with so much happiness and excitement for this tremendous news. He continued to tell me about how the interview did commence, explaining that he thought he had answered some of the questions in an unsatisfactory manner and that he had performed badly. All the worries of his interview, all the months spent studying hard, the sacrifice of time with loved ones and friends, all this suffering was completely alleviated by the news which came through a simple email just before Daniel came back from his lunch break.
At the moment he told me this news I experienced such a pleasurable phenomena. It was as if in that moment I was standing at the epicenter of an alignment and balance in the world. Here, standing in front of me was a man who had worked hard and diligently for years in his degree, who had clearly done everything right and received transparent justification for the efforts he put in. I’m interested in how this short moment of peace allowed me to escape all the pain I was feeling, all worry and any anxieties vanished if just for a moment. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he told me first? He will tell this news to others who are much closer to him and know him more deeply, what type of effect will it have on them ? The temporary alleviation of suffering of all people within his circle of influence, cascading from person to person as the news is relayed through his network. This news means so much. The start of a career, financial stability and potentially the foundations to start a family.
Now the event has passed, I still see Daniel at work on Sundays. He refuses to completely quit his current position because he enjoys the pay rate Sunday brings. Each time I see him I am reminded of this event. I don’t think he knows the impact this news had on me, I don’t feel it is necessary for him to know. Anyhow, so many interesting things have been happening recently which I wish to write about. But for now, I will finish my tea and do some reading.
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