As I was sitting there waiting for my food at the Legal Sea Foods at Boston’s Logan International Airport in November of 2012, a man caught my eye.  He was outside on a ladder cleaning the windows of the gate next to the restaurant. As I sat there and watched him, I was mesmerized by how meticulous he was.  He was so carefully cutting into the corners of each window. 

There was no element of trying to rush through it. Quite the opposite. It was as if he was getting that window ready for the president of the airport to come inspect.  But, there wasn’t anyone else outside. No one coming behind him (that I could tell at least). I could just deeply feel by watching him that he wanted to do a great job because he cared about doing a great job.

I was so fascinated by him.  What motivated him? It wasn’t as if he was getting a bonus based on how well he cleaned those windows. No profit sharing.  No elevation in title.  

What was his story?  What made him who he is?  Who inspired him to have the work ethic he has?

What advice and encouragement would he give to others?  I’m sure he had plenty of lessons that could motivate and help others.

I so wish I could have talked to him and picked his brain on those 3 questions:

  1. What motivates him?
  2. What inspires him?
  3. What advice and encouragement would he give to others?

And, those 3 questions are ones that at goHappy, we want to dig into with people from across the country – people who are like this extraordinary ordinary man at the Logan Airport.  People who are doing what most people would describe as “ordinary” jobs. But, they are being done in an extraordinary way. By extraordinary people.

We want to celebrate these Extraordinary Ordinary People.  And, we think there are thousands of them out there. But, their stories don’t get told.  They don’t get the limelight in the Wall Street Journal. Or Forbes. Or CNN. Or even in their local paper.  But, we think they’re worth telling. Actually, they’re definitely worth telling. And, they are worth celebrating for sure.

So, we’re going to do our small part of telling these stories and celebrating these people by kicking off the goHappy Extraordinary Worker Campaign next month and highlighting one extraordinary ordinary person’s story each month. Want to know how we will celebrate these Extraordinary Ordinary People? Stay tuned for our kick-off next month and what you can do to nominate the Extraordinary Ordinary People in your life!!