Janitor or Custodian?

Have you ever considered the difference between the two? I’m not sure what the real difference is, but it seems that I’m not the only one who gets mixed up. Traditionally, a janitor is entrusted with cleaning jobs, whereas a custodian is a person in charge of looking after a property or a child.

The confusion comes in because many janitors are seen performing other roles traditionally considered fit for a custodian. It seems a custodian is there on the premises of the property they are entrusted to maintain, whereas a janitor performs their duties in the morning or evenings. In the comparison, you can bring in the toilets, floors, security and changing of the light bulbs.

Still, very confusing…

However, the fellow cleaning the office bathroom on the Tuesday after Easter, asked me a wonderful question. He asked, “How was your Easter?” I wanted to tell him all the wonderful things I did, or I wanted to share with him my story of being a janitor (or maybe a custodian) for 13 years before I got into the rocket science business. I did not; I simply told him that it was very nice and I got to see all of my children.

He was so busy mopping the floors, I just didn’t want to take up too much of his time. Maybe, I should have just told him, “It was something that I will always remember,” because it was.

My Easter weekend started with a journey to Nashville, Tennessee, where I would meet up with all of my children. I have two who live there for work and college and one who traveled north to meet us.

On my way there, I got to stop in Marion, Virginia. This stop would have probably been on my bucket list, if I had one. Marion has about six thousand residents and is home to The Lincoln Theatre, where the nationally syndicated bluegrass music program Song of the Mountains is put on every other week.

I love bluegrass music, but I had other things on my mind in Marion. Namely, “Dip Dogs.” “The Dip Dog Stand,” and I do mean THE Dip Dog Stand is in Marion, Virginia, and I had never had the opportunity to try one. The restaurant/stand has changed hands through the years, originally started in 1957 by a fellow named, Lester Brown.

A “dip dog” is kind of like a corn dog, but it’s not. It’s on a stick and the batter is rather thin, but it’s a good thing. It comes slathered in mustard, unless you ask them to do something different with it. The french fries were humongous crinkly cut fries and worth getting off the interstate for. And since it was my first visit, they gave me a plastic cup, a ball point pen and a bumper sticker. I will go again.

The Dip Dog Stand was fun, but my highlight of the weekend was Easter Sunday morning, when and where I found myself in a bar in Nashville. It might seem sacrilegious to be sitting in a bar on Easter Sunday morning, but to be honest with you, I felt a little like Goldilocks sitting in the baby bear’s chair.

I love going to church and I love working the left door at my church three months out of the year, but I can honestly say I’ve never attended church in a bar. And that was exactly what I was doing. I sat there thinking, “I wish Daddy could see this, I think he would see the beauty in it.”

Well, after listening and singing along with a band that I’m sure was full of folks that play in and around Nashville on days and nights other than Sundays, I got to hear a wonderful Easter sermon. I could see why my children enjoy going to this church, who rent out the location for their services.

Then came the communion part. Being in charge of helping with the process at my own church, where we use silver trays and baskets, I enjoy and understand the importance of the sacrament. These folks had some folding tables set up around the place or you could go right up to the bar and get your little plastic cup and bread. That is exactly what I did.

Again, I just wish my Mama and my Daddy could have experienced this together with me. I admire a church that can hold services in a bar, and I also admire the bar folks for renting this place out.

It was just a good day for a fellow who used to be a janitor (or possibly a custodian).

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Cranks My Tractor

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I'm BN Heard and I like semicolons, dogs and Dip Dogs.