RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU HAVE HEARD the EXPRESSION “CLEANLINESS IS NEXT to Godliness”?
In the bible it talks about washing hands and feet and about cleanliness, to keep from getting sick from different diseases! It is paramount to your health and safety! Cleanliness makes all the difference in the world! It saves lives!
With Covid, have conditions improved or not?
Get ready, you and I, are going on an adventure to hear top leaders /CEOs speak about their expertise at a two day Conference in your favorite City in America !
Pack your suit cases, bring your business casual clothes, and a jacket or sweater as the Conference Hall has a really cold AC unit in it! We are staying in a fancy hotel!
Our first stop is going to the airport and getting checked in. We arrive 2 hours early as we have to go to check in and go through inspection. The line moves in an orderly manner, not 6 feet apart. Many are not wearing their masks, we are wearing our masks.
You and I stand in line for Delta Air Lines. We show our tickets and our drivers licenses to a clean well-dressed smiling Delta associate. They are nice and helpful! Their counters are clean. Looks like they used their Lysol!
Then you and I travel to the inspection gate, take off our shoes, put our computers, and other things in the trays to go through x-ray. I put through my fiddle, and computer and purse, and one of the inspectors as he’s having me hold up my arms over my head to have me stand in the machine says “he used to play the trombone!”
I ask “do you still play”? He says, “I still have my horn and my children play in the school band, I’m thinking about playing again.
I say there are several amateur groups you might enjoy warming up your instrument! He smiles and says maybe!
We put on our shoes, grab our things, and head over to the Delta gate to wait for our airplane!
It’s finally our turn to board the plane. We are checked in with a smile and go to our seats put our bags and fiddle in the overhead department and sit down.
Half the airplane is wearing masks. We wear our masks. There is a new outbreak of Covid on the local news. The plane is full. No 6 foot apart here!
You and I notice this Delta plane is nice and clean. The fold down trays too! They know what to do with their Lysol spray!
After an hour an half of travel our steward and stewardess bring sealed packages of peanuts, cookies, and hot and cold drinks.
We arrive 2 hours later safely and gather our things from the overhead bin, in my case my fiddle and purse and walk off the airplane with a big smile on our faces. We go to grab our luggage and find a taxi to go to the fancy hotel.
As we are traveling to the hotel, I ask you if “you remembered to bring your Lysol spray or Lysol wipes with you?” You say you forgot to bring them!
You ask me if I remembered them?
“I hang my head down and say I forgot them too!”
We arrived at the hotel. The hotel clerk, who is dressed neatly in a pressed suit hands us our keys after we show him our reservations and our drivers licenses. His counter is clean, he smiles and says you and I are on the ninth floor. We say we are here for the conference and he points down the hall.
We step into the elevator and notice there is “Not a speck of dust in it”!
We take the elevator to the 9th floor.
You and I decide to check out both rooms for cleanliness!
Our first stop was to check the first bathroom. On the right wall by the mirror there is a sign that says,
“This hotel room is cleaned entirely by Lysol Disinfectant Spray. For your protection!”
Imagine our surprise at looking at the dirty counters and floors being filthy!
You and I instantly begin taking tissues out of the Kleenex box, putting soap and water on them and started cleaning!
The house keeping department must have thought putting the sign up would magically -like Waving a Wand -make the dirt go away!
“They forgot about the elbow grease!”
It’s “brilliant” instead of cleaning the room they put a sign up saying these rooms were cleaned by Lysol. So much for “Cleanliness is next to G-dliness “ here!
Next, You and I look at the kitchen area with the dirty counters, microwave and refrigerator. You and I look at each other and go back to the bathroom for tissues water and soap to scrub the area.
We then notice a small sign on the wall in the kitchen area.
“If you would like your room cleaned call housekeeping at anytime during your stay by using the phone in the room. We look forward to serving you!”
We look at each other and laugh!
We go running over to the phone. You reach for it first and notice it is filthy!
I say, hold on and I will grab the tissues, soap, and water to clean it!
I rush once again to get tissues, water and soap to clean it!
After cleaning the phone, I take out my small bottle of hand sanitizer pour some on my hands, and offer you the hand sanitizer too!
We start to laugh !
At this point -You and I are afraid to say anything as it could always get worse!!!
This place reminds me of MUTINY ON the Bounty!
I then shared my childhood with you: As a child of 3 or 4 years of age , I remember cleaning up dishes and other areas of our home. I was the second of 4 children. Our Father, a medical doctor, a surgeon believed that the kitchen and bathrooms had to be absolutely clean!
For example, when you wash dishes, silverware, pots and pans with a sponge, soap, and hot water, all the dirt had to come off! After cleaning everything, you put the utensils, plates, cups, pots and pans in the dishwasher to be sterilized.
From my Father I learned cleanliness, discipline, and accountability!
What did your Father or Mother teach you?
Side Note:
Let’s face it! When you are on a hospital operating table don’t you want it to be absolutely clean?
Don’t you want all the surgical instruments to be sterilized?
Don’t you want all the conditions to be right for success?
How about a dirty hotel room?
Shouldn’t the hotel staff be held accountable?
It’s a mad, mad world!
We have Covid and people still will not face up, step up, and do their job!
It’s so frightening, it’s funny!
Next, we check out the Bedroom area.
We pulled back the blanket and notice the rough burlap sheets in this fancy hotel room!
The bedding reminded me of another rough set of burlap sheets.
My husband and I discovered them for the first time in our hotel room at the City hotel in Chur’s, Switzerland. Our orchestra members were all staying at this budget hotel. I was performing with this Chamber Orchestra in 4 European countries, (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium for 5 weeks! My husband came with me as he had never been out of the U.S. before. We lived on my salary! This was also a time of drinking sealed bottled water for our health and safety!
That night we remained in our clothes for our protection!
Do you remember any experiences like this in your travels?
We check your room and it has the same signs in the bathroom and the kitchen area with the dirty counters and floors ,the dirty phone, and burlap sheets.
It’s like a Mirror image of my room!
It can always be worse!
If you call them ,they may bring a bucket of dirt and put it on the floor in the living room area!
Lysol does help clean the dirt and filth if…. “You use it with “Elbow Grease!”
The next morning at 6:30am, you and I meet in the hotel restaurant to go to breakfast with our masks in place just to enter and get our food. We go immediately to the omelet station where a Chef in a clean white hat and white uniform has several pans out and he is making omelets.
You ask him does he enjoy cooking and how long has he worked here? He says, with a smile, “I really enjoy cooking and I have worked here for 6 months!” He asks us, “Where are you from?”
(Hot food is the safest thing to eat!!!!)
He cooked up our hot omelets and they looked delicious!
Then we walked over to the wooden tables. You and I notice the dirty, sticky, greasy wooden tables with left over food on them.
Here we go again!
I imagine putting on my pink cleaning gloves to clean this mess up!!!!
We waved to a waiter standing in the corner and motion for him to come over! He refused to come over.
It was as if he was a potted plant and he was holding an invisible sign that said, “Eat the Hot Food for your safety”!
We get several clean paper napkins to put down on the table. We also brought over silverware wrapped up and brought over hot tea, hot coffee and our hot omelets.
After eating our breakfast we went to the conference ballroom where they had many large round tables that held 10 people per table. Each table had a clean black table cloth on the table with “3 to 5” sets of work books and pens. This allowed plenty of space between each person at the table.
The speakers were exceptional and you and I took many notes and learned many new ways to help our companies thrive during these difficult times.
A Business Trip of Contrasts:
Our Delta airplane was spotless. The cab was really nicely cleaned. Our cab driver took good care of his cab! The hotel was filthy. For the Magic wand to work, “Elbow Grease is Necessary”. Remember you can’t control everything!
On a side note, my Father told me when he was 12 years old he was working in the Men’s shoe department in his Grandmother’s store and he had to help his customers try on shoes. He said, “The people had not washed!”
Maybe it was hard to find soap and water in those days!
When I was growing up we didn’t have any money but we sure had a lot of soap and water to wash with!
Anyway, my Father said he decided there and then that he had to go to college to become an engineer or a medical doctor. He did not want to spend his life waiting on people who never washed or bathed!
What lessons did your Father or Mother teach you?
“Cleanliness is next to Godliness” It is as true today as in ancient times of the Bible!
What three things can you do to protect your family when traveling?
1)Have a 2ounce bottle of hand sanitizer with you.
2) In your car leave a container of hand sanitizer, a can of Lysol spray or a package of Lysol wipes, band aids, and antiseptic for emergencies.
3) In your suit case bring bar to one or two bars of soap, Lysol wipes, hand sanitizer , and a roll of toilet paper. It never hurts to be prepared.
Cleanliness is Next to Godliness!
Madeline Frank, Ph.D., is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, concert artist, and parent. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Business". Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker or virtual speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com
