07
2008
A Cut Above
We all know, from the level of service that we often receive, that there are a lot of people out there who are not very happy in their work. I think many of them struggle with the fact that there is a Monday every week and that they have to get through it. It’s a shame really.
Kahlil Gibran had some advice for these folk in his masterpiece, “The Prophet”. He suggested that if people don’t love their work but only have distaste for it, they should take alms from those who work with joy and love. Hm. Maybe.
But isn’t it wonderful when we run into people that love their work? I met such a person recently.
I was working in Castlegar, British Columbia. Castlegar is in the Kooteney Mountains and sits on the shore of the mighty Columbia River. My work was done, I had time to kill, and I was badly in need of a haircut. I was told there was a Barber’s Shop around the corner. “She opens at nine” I was told. That’s when I met Noella Gibb.
The Barber Shop was like no other I’d ever seen. It was like I was going into Noella’s den at home. Artifacts from around the world were everywhere: screens from India; carvings and masks from Africa; paintings from Venice. Noella Gibb greeted me with a warm smile and I sat in the chair.
When I get my hair cut in my hometown, it takes seven minutes tops. This can be accounted for by the efficiency of my hairdresser and the dearth of hair on my head. Well, my haircut in Castlegar took forty minutes. Noella Gibb is someone who loves what she does.
She talked about her philosophy about work. She told me that you can live anywhere and if you work hard you can be happy and successful. OK, not exactly Kahlil Gibran but not bad.
I knew she loved her work by the way she looked. She was colorfully and smartly dressed. She talked of her passion for her work, for the arts, and for her love of travel. She told me that a few months ago, she decided to reluctantly give up her business in order to follow her love of travel, opera, theatre, and so on. When the people of Castlegar found out, they begged her to stay. She did.
Noella had a big stack of CDs in her Barber Shop and she played Bach and Mozart for both of us as she clipped away. But all too soon my time was up and I had to get to the airport. I left feeling really happy for meeting someone who so much loved what she was doing everyday.
When I landed back in Calgary, I bought a cup of tea from a bored, uninterested, young lady. Normal service had been resumed.
It’s true, isn’t it, that there really is a noticeable difference between people that love their work and those that don’t. It’s worth remembering that the next time you don’t want to get up and go to work.
And if you find yourself in Castlegar with time on your hands and in need of a haircut, you’ll be out of luck. Noella finally did give up her business. She was starting to get a little tired.
After all, Noella Gibb is eighty-nine years old.
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