Turquoise Toilet

There it sat on the edge of Westside Drive right down the street from the church. A discarded turquoise toilet standing forlornly at the edge of the road, awaiting pickup. Why it had been done away with, I do not know. It looked whole and perfect, not cracked or discolored. Perhaps its an outdated model and the owners prefer one that uses less water to flush, or makes less noise. Perhaps they remodeled the bathroom and did away with the turquoise color scheme. Or maybe they were just tired of looking at it.

Whatever the reason, it has been there for over a week now, jarringly out of place in the pristine white snow upon which it sits. It looks so alone sitting there, unused, unconnected, a relic of an era gone by. I, for one, would not like to have it representing my family abode for all the world to see. I mean, really, it seems to be making a statement of some time. (Life is crap? Crap happens? We have no crap here?) Of course, every family experiences times when it feels as if life has gone down the toilet, but most families prefer to keep that to themselves and not air their dirty laundry to the world. They can't really use it for a mailbox, it wouldn't be much use as a plow guide, and I can't see it working very well as a bench.

I think it bothers me most because I deal often with people who are jarringly out of place in their job. They are doing something for which they do not have the right gifts and skills. There is nothing wrong with the person, just with what they are trying to do. They are not very good at whatever it is they have been hired to do. And they get downright distraught when they are told that they should try something else, something for which they are more suited.

Toilets have it easy. They know exactly what they are made to do. Oh, you could use them for a planter if you really wanted, but everyone would recognize that its not the best use. People are a little trickier. Most everyone else can tell you what you are good at or not good at. Few know themselves well enough to see the truth. In this age of job upheaval, I see a lot of well made and functional people sitting by the side of the road, cast aside because they were not doing what they are good at and someone got tired enough of the shoddy work to address the problem.

I hope someone who needs a good toilet comes by soon and picks the darn thing up. And I hope people who are cast aside from a job get snapped up by someone who recognizes their skills and gifts and knows just how to connect them.