Contrary to my other blogs, this one is not about me or my friends and family or my work. It is about Kevin, the mailroom clerk that brings in my mail everyday.
Life is fast in the Big Apple and most of us don’t have time for things that are not personal or somehow connected to us. Yes, we are a tad bit selfish, but that’s part and parcel of being a New Yorker. Mind you though, there are Good Samaritans in the city; and I, for at least some time, was going to be one of them.
This Friday, It had been 3 days since Jason, my assistant had been on leave. So on a week closing- busy day, I was without an assistant and with heaps of work load. It was just morning and by the looks of it, felt like all hell was going to break loose by the end of the day. Still, I tried to manage, albeit cursing Jason for not only the off but also for being so good at his job that I had grown too dependent on him.
I was searching for something in the office when the mailroom clerk came in. I asked him to set the mail on the table and he did as he curiously watched me pace through the abyss of books and papers.
“Do you need me to help you with something sir?” Kevin (as I later realized his name was) asked and I told him that help was more than welcome at that moment. He did manage to find the book I was looking for and after a lot of hesitation, he managed to tell me the reason he was in my office that day.
It so happened that Kevin was quitting his job to go back to school and Jason had promised him to get my reference. Jason had in fact mentioned it to me but I decided to play dumb. I was more interested in the fact that a guy like Kevin who I saw working hard with all his heart and soul was leaving his job to go back to school.
“Kevin, but I hardly know you, how can I be your reference?”, I said.
He was lost for words and did nothing but stood there with the very evident depression on his face.
After a good long pause I continued, “but tell you what, why don’t you meet me outside the ‘Seven Five’ after work and I’ll get to know you and maybe work on that reference”. His face immediately lit up.
As promised, I met him at the Seven Five that evening and we began to talk over drinks and Kevin went on to tell his story.
Kevin was a bright chap who was simply beaten by the circumstances. He had to drop out of school and take up the job just to support himself in the fastest city in the world. He had always had a thirst for knowledge and would get it from any source possible. In his earlier days in the city, he had even spent days in the subway, sometimes more than a couple of nights.
He went on to narrate a story that was inspiring and at some places, shocking. He reminded me of ‘In the Pursuit of Happiness’ as his were similar circumstances as that of Chris Gardener but I knew that he was not spinning a tale. He went on to tell me that he had been saving all these years to go to college and had finally reached his target this year. His LSAT scores (naturally he wanted to be a lawyer and hence was working in a law firm) put some of the best colleges within his reach; all he had to do was get in. This was where I would play a meager but noble part in his future, the reference.
After listening to Kevin’s story, I had not only understood his circumstances and his aspirations, but had also understood his character and what a fine character he had. His humble life had instilled him such qualities that if there was enough good left in the world when he passed out and moved ahead in his career, he would surely (at least) make DA someday. But then again, great character is not the only thing one needs to get there. Nonetheless he had reserved my vote from that day onward.
A week after meeting Kevin for drinks, I had finally completed the recommendation. As I typed in the last period, it got me thinking, how we humans, especially we, the humans of New York city are driven by the constant urge to move ahead. Is it our dormant nature, a biological clock ticking to push us or our thoughts ahead with every ticking second, or is it the world that pushes us as it moves ahead or is it simply our pursuit of happiness that becomes the driving force that motivates us to survive against all the odds.
