Back without the toothbrush

So the toothbrush guy came back today, but this time he did not have his toothbrush with him. Once again he asked to turn out the lights in the laundry room, and I was impressed with his consistency. I was not expecting him to come back and thought by this time he would just send an email encouraging the building supervisor to save energy so he could save his own energy. I am amused to see how long this will go on for. Little does he know that there is still another laundry room in the building with the lights on 24/7. I can't image the nightmares he would have if he knew.

Random guy with a toothbrush

So it seems that anything worth blogging about keeps happening at the desk of my job. Tuesday this professor comes in carrying a toothbrush in his hands with an attitude too perky for the early hours of the morning. He approached and asked if he could turn out the lights in the laundry room to save energy. While I am an energy saver myself, this was definitely the strangest request I have gotten at the desk. There he was standing with his toothbrush in his fist as spunky as can be asking to turn out some lights. I just could not rain on his parade, and decided to let him do as he fancied. If it made him think he was saving the earth, then why not? He walked away feeling better and said it had been bothering him for days (I thought it was creepy that he had been watching the laundry room that long). It is funny what bothers people. As he walked away, I felt guilty for not telling him about the second laundry room we have and how the lights stay on in there all of the time too. He was so excited about turning that light off that I thought it would be best to keep our other energy wasting room a secret. I am still at lost as to why he had the toothbrush, but who knows...

Doctor or Officer

Today a faith building moment approached me when I least expected it. Upon returning to my dorm, I ran into a friend that I had hung out with this weekend talking to one of the public safety officers. She was looking for me, and luckily I had just walked in as she was about to give up her search. After handing me a card, she left me standing at the desk to be interrogated by the officer who had not seen my in a while.

"Ms. Hall where have you been?" he questioned noticing that I had not passed through the lobby much at night anymore.

"Busy with school," I said leading into a ten minute conversation where the officer filled me in on what was going on in his life. Then towards the end of the conversation he said words that almost made me cry. In a half conversational half prayer voice he said:

"I will be praying for you and your family, that God will continue blessing you..."

And the rest became a blur. I heard this main part of his prayer speech and felt touched. Suddenly, I began to think of how oblivious I had been to those around me who need prayer, but this one man took the time to pray for a random student that he rarely sees. He couldn't have chosen a better time for it. As I was about to walk away, I almost made the mistake of calling him doctor out of habit instead of officer. I quickly caught the mistake, but then asked myself if there was a difference. I call professors doctor all day long, but none of them have fixed anything in my life. Yet, here was this man that just spoke wisdom and healing into my life and society would consider him of less importance. I admit that I too had often avoided him, not knowing the wisdom he possessed. Tonight I had been reminded that people don't have to talk like theologians for God to convey his important messages through them. Sometimes they can be the quirky people that no one pays attention to. Next time I might address this officer by the title he most deserves--doctor. Unlike so many he knows who to turn to for remedies.