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I was always taught to say thank you. Growing up, it didn’t matter if it was a cashier, a janitor or someone holding the door: I always thanked them for what they did. But gratitude is easy to forget when you have six classes and different clubs to focus on every day.
I’ve watched students walk past custodians cleaning classrooms early in the morning or dining workers serving meals late in the evening without a word. I’ve also caught myself doing the same thing. Somewhere along the way, I forgot how much of daily life at the university depends on their work.
The workers we walk past every day — custodians, dining hall workers, maintenance crews and groundkeepers — make our lives at IU comfortable. But most of the time, we barely acknowledge them. We should not relegate these workers to the background because, like us, they are people who deserve appreciation.
When we need a cozy and clean place to study, we have it. When we want to eat something in the middle of the day, we can go to the dining hall. It’s easy to forget about the labor that goes into them, especially when these services can feel like they’re automatic.
That’s why a national survey conducted from October 5 – 10, 2022 showed 47% of workers across industries would like to be recognized more for their work, while 21% indicate that they never receive that recognition: We forget about them.
IU workers clean classrooms and bathrooms, prepare meals, fix broken doors, maintain safe walkways and help campus to keep working smoothly. They take care of study spaces we rely on and buildings we move through every day. More importantly, they take care of us. Without them, our schedules would be busier, our days would be more stressful and our campus would be less livable. We couldn’t even move around the campus if IU workers didn’t salt the paths we walk on.
We like to be recognized and respected. We like people to see what we do and tell us that we do a good job. We like people thanking us after a small action and treating us with respect because we deserve it as much as they do. IU workers are not an exception. Their work requires patience, dedication and resilience. The fact that we can sometimes take them for granted is not OK because what would we do without them?
With the holiday season around the corner, we should appreciate the people that have been making our lives easier. If you really pay attention to your surroundings, you’ll see them because they were always there. Instead of just walking past staff, you can acknowledge them by saying “thank you,” making eye contact, smiling, holding the door or just giving them a simple “hi” like we do with friends. Small gestures count and matter.
Research shows that gratitude practices at work can reduce stress, improve satisfaction and well being. Simple acts to express gratitude do not just demonstrate we are being polite. These actions also help the people that keep our campus running.
If you like being treated with respect, then you should treat everyone like that too — not only your friends or your family, but everyone.
IU’s workers — dining hall workers, maintenance crews and groundkeepers — deserve to be seen. They deserve to be appreciated. And it is time that we start doing that.
Astrid Alomia (she/her) is a freshman studying journalism with a concentration in public relations and a minor in marketing. \
