Work Done With Both Hands

My first work was not glamorous, but it gave me the satisfaction of being useful. I learned to arrive when I said I would, to notice what needed doing, and to finish the job so the next person would not have to clean up after me.^[1]

Those habits stayed with me because they were attached to people, not slogans. The adults I admired did not give speeches about responsibility; they kept their word, repaired what broke, and treated a handshake as something that still had weight.^[2]