WORN-OUT PHRASES

It was a pleasure to serve you! NOT!

How many times a day do we say things that we do not really mean? Many! Why do we do this? Repetitive social situations go more smoothly when we do things by rote following well-worn language formulas. "Servers" (formerly known as waiters and waitresses) serve people so many times per day, it is easier to use the same formulaic responses over and over again. Eventually, these well-worn phrases become worn-out phrases with little or no meaning.

In the behavioral health business, serving people is a major part of what we do. In fact, it is the only thing we do that really counts. Some of the people we serve are very difficult. Because our organization's mission is to serve people with the most serious and complex disorders, we work with more than our "fair share" of these difficult people. Is it ever a pleasure to serve them?

Perhaps the word "pleasure" is the wrong word in this question. Maybe we need to answer the question, "Is it ever rewarding to serve people with the most serious and complex disorders?” I think the answer is “YES!” but this may be a true answer only when given by a special kind of person. I believe that it takes a very special kind of person to find reward in this most challenging field of work.

Over the years, it has been a great privilege for me to know many people who have dedicated their professional lives to enabling some of the most challenging individuals to live a life of dignity. Most people would find the types of activities that are a daily part of the work performed by these people to be degrading. These special people experience their work very differently. Instead of looking at the activities that they perform, they look at the improvements in the lives of the people they support. These improvements are great, especially when compared to the horrendous conditions many of them experienced while confined to institutions. Is it a pleasure to serve people with the most serious and challenging disorders? Almost certainly not. Is it highly rewarding? If looked at from the proper perspective how could it not?!