We rarely saw her. But we always saw her handiwork. She came to work at the college where I taught after we’d all left for the day. And when we arrived the next day to resume our tutorials, labs or classroom sessions with students, all those rooms were spick-and-span. Then, one evening when I happened to be working late, I met her – a member of Centennial College’s custodial staff – and I stopped to chat.

“Thanks for all the cleaning you do in our classrooms,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “Just part of the job.”

“But we never see you. It’s nice to acknowledge what you do.”

“Yes, well, we’re kind of invisible,” she said. (more…)