The Arc Angels

Several years ago, Iris Arc Crystal, a company I co-founded with Francesca Patruno, experienced a lull in business. We had recently hired several new employees and hoped that the slowdown was only temporary. However, in the meantime, we had work enough for only four days of the week. So, instead of letting 20 percent of our work force go or sending them home one day per week, we decided that we would keep everyone on the payroll for the entire week, working from Monday through Thursday, and taking Fridays to do service projects in our hometown of Santa Barbara.

I remember phoning several service agencies to find out what was needed in the community. We divided up into three groups and showed up where the agencies said they most needed us. The first week, the group was involved with went to a very old Ukrainian gentleman's home to do a total cleanup of his house and garden. When we arrived, an elderly woman greeted us at the door. We thought she was the wife, but it turned out she was the daughter. She was 75, and her father was 97! She told us what we needed to do, and we proceeded to clean the house from floor to ceiling and clean up the yard as well. It is amazing how much work a group can get done when everyone is working together and being of service to someone who really needs the help. That gentleman's house went from dirt and dinginess to a sparkling clean palace by the time we finished at the end of the day.

The thing I most remember about that day, however, was not the great cleaning job that we did, but something altogether different. When we first walked into the house, I noticed the wonderful pen-and-ink drawings that adorned the walls in all the rooms of the house. I asked the daughter who had done them. She said that her father had, and that he hadn't taken up art until he was 80 years old! I was dumbfounded: these drawings were works of art that could have easily been hanging in a museum. At the time, I was in my early 30s and wanted to do something that would utilize my creative and artistic capabilities more than being the president of a giftware company would allow. I had been feeling that it would be too difficult to make a change at this "advanced"stage of my life. Boy, did my limited belief system get expanded that afternoon!

We continued to do service projects around town for several more weeks, including completely painting someone's home and setting up a large bleacher for a horseback riding academy for physically challenged children. We had a lot of fun and did a lot of good. We ended up with the nickname The Arc Angels. In addition to the good feelings that came from helping out others, the good feelings we shared as employees of a company that cared for both its employees and the community, went a long way toward creating a work atmosphere that was a joy to be part of.

幾年前，我和弗蘭西斯卡?帕楚諾共建的愛里斯?亞克水晶公司經歷了一個困難期。那時我們剛雇了幾名新員工，心里希望這種低迷狀態只是暫時的。而同時，我們一周只需工作四天。為了避免流失百分之二十的勞動力或每周給員工放假回家一天，我們決定給每人發放全周薪金，周一至周四工作，周五則在家鄉圣巴巴拉服務。

記得為了了解社區的需要，我給好幾家服務公司打過電話。我們分為三組，去服務公司說最有需要的地方。第一周，我所在的小組去一位年邁的烏克蘭人家，為他的房子和花園做大掃除。我們到的時候，一位老婦人在門口迎接我們。我們以為她是老人的妻子，而結果她卻是他的女兒。她75歲，她父親已是97歲了!她吩咐了需要做什么后，我們就開始由天花板至地板清潔起房子以及打掃起院子來。當眾人為幫助真正有需要的人而在一起團結努力時，一個群組能完成的工作量真是驚人!一日下來，我們完工后，老人的房子由滿是塵污變為清潔光亮。

然而那天令我印象最深刻的不是我們做的了不起的清潔工作，而是別的事情。我們剛剛走進那座房子的時候，我注意到房子里所有房間的墻上都掛著非常美麗的水墨畫。我問老人的女兒是誰畫的。她說是她的父親，而且他到80歲的時候才開始對藝術產生興趣!我傻眼了∶這些畫是完全可以掛在博物館里展出的藝術品。當時我三十歲剛出頭，不甘于只當個禮品公司的老總，很想做點什么可以好好利用上我那藝術創造力的事。可我一直覺得要在生命中這個"高級”階段的時候做改變太難了。天啊，那天下午，我那點狹隘的想法得到了多大的鼓勵!

我們繼續在城區一帶又服務了幾個星期，包括為某人的家做粉刷房屋、為向體能挑戰的兒童在賽馬會建了一個大看臺。我們得到了許多樂趣并做下許多好事，最后還贏得"亞克天使”的稱譽。除了通過幫助他人而獲得良好的感覺以外，我們還長期分享了身為這家既關心雇員也關心社區的公司中一員的美好感覺，營造出一股歡樂的工作氣氛。