The simple delights of a pedicure

14th June 2011   ·   0 Comments

By Fr. Jerome LeDoux
The Louisiana Weekly Contributing Columnist

For many months, I had been admiring the obvious care with which the Vietnamese lady did my feet.

“What a service!” I thought, observing how she meticulously dealt with cleaning my unkempt toes, cutting the cuticles and trimming my toenails. Finally, she wrapped it all up, massaging my feet with strong, practiced fingers.

“There seems to be some added element here,” I was just thinking that very day, for she did pedicures even better than everyone everywhere should do a job. So, what was her motivation for doing such a wonderful job with such evident care and relish?

Midway through her pedicure routine that day, she looked up and supplied the answer to all my questions. “I like doing the feet of old people. Although I work with young people sometimes, I do not enjoy it. I enjoy much more doing the feet of old people. Of course, I do the job for money, but I work mainly because I love what I am doing.”

What she confided resonated very strongly with me, causing me to her even more closely as she went about cleaning, trimming my toes and rubbing my soles with an emery board. It was more than curious that I was now firmly in the ranks of the elderly.

“What is your name?” I asked, watching her intently.

With a very pleased smile, she answered, carefully spelling, “Thanh!”

“That sounds like a great name. What does it mean, and what is your last name?”

“Thanh means nice, beautiful,” she responded with a big smile.

“My last name is Le,” she continued, spelling the name carefully that I might understand.

“Nice. Beautiful. That you certainly are!” I returned with a mutual smile. “The name fits you very well in your appearance, disposition and personality.”

During the pedicure, Thanh gives knowledgeable advice concerning the care of the soles of the feet whose skin becomes thicker and tougher with age.

“Use Vaseline on them. It softens the skin and keeps it pliable. And do not use corn remover on corns; otherwise, they will grow back. Use Vaseline, and they will gradually disappear.”

Just as she advertised, Vaseline does soften the tough old skin, keeps it pliable and reverses the aging, toughening process. With­out the frequent Vaseline application, aging soles crack, especially at the heels, allowing pieces of trash to lodge in the cracks.

As my self-appointed barber for many years, beautician Carolyn Bergeron in Baton Rouge learned exactly how to trim and cut my hair, and occasionally shampooed it. Thanh is following closely in her footsteps, improving each time on the trimming and cutting of my hair, so that there is visible improvement from one haircut to the other.

“You look like my father,” Thanh suddenly remarked during my last visit. “I always enjoy giving him a pedicure and cutting his hair. You are like him.”

Completely taken aback, I was dumbfounded and highly pleased all at the same time. My thoughts raced to what I might have in common with her father. “Perhaps he has a cotton top like mine,” I mused, “for he could be somewhere in his seventies.”

“Find a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life,” Confucius tells us.

There could be no doubt that Thanh has found the job she loves, because the way she goes about her work shows great delight and passion for the work itself and a meticulous intent to please her clients. She is a shining example of the wisdom of Confucius. To look at her go about her work, one does conclude that she is not working at all, but recreating.

Her attitude harks back to that of the Say-hey Kid, Willie Mays, who was heard to remark in total amazement, “You mean they pay me for playing this game that I love?”

Of course, Willie’s infectious relish and passion in playing baseball ignited and inspired his teammates and brought many moments and years of pleasure to fans of all stripes.

In his book, Passionate About Their Work: 151 Celebrities, Artists, and Experts on Creativity, Leslie C. Halpern compiles revealing quotes from folks like Ernest Borgnine, Phyllis Diller, Regis Philbin and 148 others who live the words of Confucius.

Their job is not so much working to make a living as it is a passion that consumes them from the mo­ment they awaken, taking on and transforming each challenge of the day into a tool of their imagination so powerful that it becomes the very air that they breathe.

You will recall that many a vocalist begins every show with a warm “I love you!” blown at the audience. Quite a number of vocalists have also admitted in interviews that their rendition of songs is a live way of displaying their love for the audience. Again, the sterling advice of Confucius about work is exemplified by such entertainers.

As most things in life, the work ethic, passion and delight of a worker bring comfort and joy to clients who benefit from such work, so that there is enjoyment on both sides. For me, a monthly haircut and pedicure are blocked off as one of life’s simple delights. As sure as a pedicure is highly desirable for most people, so sure is it a grand event.

Thanh’s love for her job reminded me of my own peacefulness in my work as head servant that appears to be a prolonged vacation. “When are you going on vacation?” is always a pointless question in my regard. My take is that I’m always on vacation. The only difference is that there are frequent interruptions to my daily vacation.

Thanks to Thanh, of the many joys of life, a simple pedicure is one more pleasant thing to which I look forward. Not a celebrity or person of note, Thanh has a lesson for each of us as we wend our way through life hand in hand, able to uplift one another by our words, our helping hand and even by the work we do for a living.

In accord with the wisdom of Confucius, there is no reason why each person in her/his chosen walk of life cannot be a sterling, comforting, inspiring worker emulating the wonderful work ethic and pattern of Thanh. This can bring great joy to worker and client. What a wonderful world this could be if we all followed the advice of Confucius!

This article originally published in the June 13, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.