Above and Beyond

One of the blessings of living at Kendal is the manner in which our staff members go above and beyond to meet our needs and to make our life easier.  Just last week I saw an outstanding example of this as one of the maintenance men worked to install a new washer/dryer combo in my apartment.  Actually not a brand new one, but one that would better meet my needs.

It all began at one of the annual meetings which administrative staff hold with residents to discuss our concerns regarding Kendal services.  These small group sessions allow us to share with administration our concerns and to make suggestions about changes we would like to see in the services available to us.  Over the five years that I have lived here the outcomes of these sessions have proven to me how sincere our administration and staff members are in trying to make this a great place to live.  During the course of one discussion I learned that I could ask to have the washer/dryer combo in my apartment changed to one that would make it easier for me to see and operate the controls.

The standard issue washer/dryer combos have the controls at the top.  When you are as short as I am which is under four feet ten,  you can't see the top of the control where the On indicator is located.  If you are lucky, you get it right on your first try at turning the washer on.  More often than not you end up making several frustrating attempts before succeeding  unless you go get a step stool to stand on it so you can see the control.  That's a bit of a nuisance since there is no convenient place to keep the step stool near the washer/dryer.  So I was pleased to receive word that the maintenance department had a machine with controls located below the dryer ready to install in my apartment.

It so happened that I was confined to my apartment that day because I had a very bad head cold.   From where I was sitting in my living room I could see what was happening as the exchange of machines took place.  As I watched I realized how much above and beyond the call of ordinary work the installer had to go.  First  there was the difficult job of getting the old one out of the cubby hole in the bathroom where it was.  After managing to wiggle it out and disconnect it and remove it to wherever it went, the replacement washer/dryer was brought in. 

Now the real fun began.  The installer had to get behind it in that small space unlit by direct light so that he could make the necessary connections to power and water.  And they had to be exactly right or it wouldn't work or there might be floods or who knows maybe even worse as you read the warnings about the dangers of fire from improperly installed exhausts.  The next step was to push the washer/dryer combo partially back into the space with only  inches to spare on all sides except the front.  At one point when I looked up all I could see were the feet and legs of the installer as he lay on top of the dryer reaching over the back to finish making the connections.  It was then quite obvious to me just how far above and beyond these fellows go for us at times.

As he was leaving my apartment I thanked him for installing the washe/dryer. I told him that I did appreciate the fact that it would now be much easier for me to do my washing and commented that I couldn't help noticing what extraordinary maneuvering it took to do the job. His matter of fact response was that they called that "the belly roll"  which indicated to me that they just take that sort of thing in stride as a part of what they do for us routinely. I call it going "above and beyond" when you have to crawl up on top of a washer/dryer combo and hang over the top in a space that is just big enough to accomodate the equipment being installed. 

And this is but one example of the sort of thing that our staff does that is above and beyond.
Consider staying over night when there is a storm so they will be sure to be here the next morning to make breakfast.  Or taking meals to cottages and villas when the weather makes trips to the community building treacherous.  Or the time a few years ago when we had a power outage that lasted for several days, the housekeeping staff came around and helped us deal with the problems created by the food that was thawing in our refrigerators.  Need I say more?   Kendal is a great place to live because of a staff that takes going "above and beyond" as a matter of routine.