Over the last several months, my youngest daughter and I have gotten into watching NBA basketball. By this I mean we routinely put a game on the TV after dinner so I can fall asleep sitting on the couch and my daughter can either watch American Idol or The Rookie on her iPad. It’s what we call “bonding time.”
Recently I was startled awake when one basketball commentator started literally shouting at another about how a player couldn’t possibly be content earning less than $40 million a year. Everyone else on the show took sides and a battle raged over the fairness of this person making less than a bazillion dollars until the next commercial break.
This debate got me thinking about who our society decides to lionize and why. Why do we choose to adore singers, for example, but not song writers, concert lighting and special effects designers, or the people who run that singer’s marketing campaigns? Why do people scream and cheer for actors who are simply reading the smart/funny lines they are given by a screenwriter no one recognizes?
It seems amazing to me that people are totally on board with professional athletes making 10s of millions of dollars per year and also with elementary school teachers having to ask parents to provide the basic school supplies a classroom needs to function. How different would our society be if we re-thought the attributes we collectively decide to adore?
I’m not saying that athletes, singers, and actors don’t deserve the money they make. There’s incredible revenue being generated at the highest level of the entertainment industry, and creators of that entertainment should be compensated based on that. Still, just because someone does a job that generates the most money doesn’t mean we should adore them while ignoring all the other people who are doing jobs that are at least as impactful.
Public school teachers will never make millions of dollars, and behind-the-scenes managers who make everything go smoothly won’t blow up and get famous on social media. That doesn’t mean we can’t decide to recognize the impact they make in our communities and lives. We can celebrate whoever we want, and I don’t think society at large does a very good job of recognizing those who quietly make the magic happen.
That brings me to national veterinary receptionist week. This week, we are celebrating those people whose job is not to lay hands on the pets and make the actual healing happen. Their job is instead to communicate what is going on to the single most vital person in veterinary medicine: the pet owner. Our front desk staff members handle difficult, emotional, frustrated, and fearful pet owners all day long. They manage scheduling chaos, pass complicated messages back and forth between clients and the medical team, and even support grieving pet owners.
On the list of underrated jobs, managing pet owners is right up at the top.
Everything our clinics do is contingent on pet owners trusting us and understanding why, when, and how things are going to happen. The ability to provide care depends on pet owners feeling heard, informed, and safe in their interactions with caregivers. This is what receptionists bring into veterinary care.
Front desk staff do not get the spotlight that veterinarians or technicians do because they don’t administer the drugs or hold the scalpel. They do, however, make everything in the clinic happen because, without customer service and support, there will be no customers, and without customers there will be no pets, and without pets there will be no care.
And so, this week I hope we can remember to adore our front desk staff. I hope we can decide to really see what they do for our clients, patients, and clinics. And most of all, I hope we can say THANK YOU in a way that makes them feel appreciated.
If you’re not a big fan of doing the whole “______ week” celebration dance, then maybe just decide to intentionally celebrate communication and service of clients. Call out the positive interactions pet owners are having in addition to the positive medical outcomes the clinic is achieving. Celebrate the way your team makes clients feel just as much as you celebrate how they make the pets feel.
This week let’s reflect on the larger question of who we choose to celebrate. Society often focuses on those with the loudest voices or the biggest paychecks, but true impact is often found in the quiet dedication of those who make people feel heard and who keep things running smoothly. By consciously choosing to adore those who may not seek the spotlight, we can create a world that truly values service, communication, and the everyday magic they create.
