Andrew sighed and started mopping clumsily and slowly. “Even sloths are faster. Speed up; there’s a lot to do!” the woman instructed. Andrew grumbled and cursed as he swept and mopped the lounge. His hip ached, and he was exhausted from lugging heavy buckets of water. With the older woman constantly watching him, he couldn’t even take a break. As he was disposing of trash in the food court, a passer – by hit him with an empty plastic bottle. “Hey, watch it, dude! How dare you throw that at me??” Andrew yelled. The guy, wearing headphones, ignored him and walked away. Andrew chased after him, demanding an explanation, but the man pushed him to the floor, calling him a “filthy janitor.”
Embarrassed and surrounded by onlookers laughing at him, Andrew was then scolded by another man for not putting up a caution sign on the wet floor. Andrew apologized and promised to fix his mistake. Just as he thought he could finally rest, a woman with a young boy approached him. “Hey, janitor, come here,” she snapped, asking Andrew to clean up her grandson’s vomit. “WHAT??! You’re kidding, lady? I can’t touch that…Eeewww! No way!” Andrew recoiled in disgust. “It’s your job, and you have to do it,” she insisted. “Don’t tell me what my job is. I’m not touching that! I feel like throwing up…it stinks….” Andrew protested. “If you don’t clean it now, I’ll report you and get you fired!” she threatened.
Andrew wished he’d never had to endure a day like this. He looked around for his assistant, but she was nowhere to be found. Andrew wiped his tears, put on gloves, and cleaned up the vomit. He mopped the floor, feeling disgusted and helpless. The rest of the day was just as bad. Every time Andrew tried to take a break, his assistant gave him more tasks. “Give me a break, lady…I’m tired,” he pleaded. “I’m a human, not a machine. I need to breathe.” “We’re here to work, not rest,” the assistant insisted. “Empty the bins now…Get moving! Get moving!”
Exhausted, Andrew dragged the bins outside and quickly cleaned the lounge. Climbing stairs for escalator duty made him dizzy. Desperate for a break, he found a quiet corner and sat down, his head in his hands. Suddenly, a woman kicked him in the back. “Get out of the way, you lazy bum,” she sneered. “I’m going to report you for sleeping on the job.” “I wasn’t sleeping,” Andrew retorted. “I’ll make sure you get fired. How dare you talk back to me?” she stormed off.
Tears welled up in Andrew’s eyes as he finally understood what his father had been trying to teach him. He now knew how much it hurt to be mistreated by those who thought they were superior. Andrew sobbed into his hands and looked up at the crowd when a woman’s figure caught his eye. He stood up and immediately ran after her when he recognized her.