Streetbank News

One man’s skill – another’s pleasure?

Last weekend I helped my Streetbank neighbour to bring a bit more order to her flat.   We did some cleaning but mostly organising; chucking things out, finding homes for things, categorising books and files and so on.

She got so excited after an hour of this flat sorting and texted me to say what a difference my organisational skills were going to make to her life.  Previously we’ve swapped her massage skills for my admin and computer skills – me helping her with things like applications and writing marketing materials for her work.  

I didn’t feel I’d done much and I realised that just being there and doing the ‘dreaded task’ together was how I had helped. 

My neighbour is so pleased she asked me back two days later to do more.  Together we’re sorting her flat room by room and as a result we both feel less stressed and more relaxed; I’ve had more massages in the past six months than in the rest of my life put together!

A similar thing happened at work today when our new team member Lucie and I tried for the third time to get her Microsoft Outlook working to manage her Streetbank emails. 

With the help of my boyfriend who works in IT over the phone and a great website for geeks, we got it working and my reaction was much like my neighbour’s had been at the weekend.  Possibly a little over the top as I jumped up and down in the office. 

A little help from a friend or neighbour can bring a lot of satisfaction – leading me to think, ‘never mind junk and treasure - one man’s skill can be another’s pleasure!’