Sunday Night With John: Just Doing My Job

Years ago I grabbed a cup of coffee with a high school teacher who helped turn my life around. I filled him in on the details of what his words of wisdom to a wide-eyed 17 year old did to re-launch my desire to better my situation. I described to him how our conversation was an important part in shaping my pubic speaking message to help those struggling with a number of life issues. He leaned back in his chair after hearing everything I had overcome and everything I had accomplished and he said, “You know, I had no idea you were struggling with so much, I was just doing my job.” He went on to describe how he always felt that while his job was to educate us on the details of the English language, it was also to guide us to understand life better. He said we may forget where the oxford comma goes, but we might not forget when he made us smile or picked us up when we were down. It goes without saying this teacher played the role of a hero in my life as a teenager and young adult.

More recently, I received a facebook message from a former coworker about a young man I worked with years ago. He was in the paper for successfully transitioning from the foster care program to attending college at a local community college in his home town. This friend passed along the message that during a support group meeting, this young man stated I was his hero. I was a taken aback and my heart strings tugged a little harder than normal after seeing the statement. I was someone’s hero, not a statement you come by often.

I don’t fancy myself as hero. Just like my teacher, I was just doing my job. Maybe, just maybe, that’s the best way to become a hero, do your job with compassion, integrity and provide hope to those who are running low. Maybe you will get the moment that my teacher got, when someone tells you, you are their hero, you’ll get to smile and say, I was just doing my job and it was my pleasure to help you.

Don’t forget next Saturday is the first ever “Sunday Night With John: Live,” except it’s on Saturday afternoon. Invitations and tickets have been sent out already, but if you find you are going to be in Mason City, Iowa next Saturday between the hours of 2 and 5pm and you would like to attend please contact me jpderryberry@gmail.com. I’m sure we have room for a couple more people. Looking forward to meeting and interacting with everyone attending next Saturday. Until then, enjoy your week!