Thank the Invisible who do their jobs well

We've all either done it, seen it, or recognize from TV and movies the handshake and back clapping when someone is pleased with someone who has done their job. The doctor who saves a life. The lawyer who prevents the life sentence. The athlete. The actor. The celebrity famous for just being a celebrity.
The latter examples aren't ones I personally understand. The first two, of course I do, but thankfully, most of us go through our time on earth without needing a defense lawyer and hopefully we aren't often in dire need of medical attention.

Today I want to give thanks to the people who seem invisible in our daily lives, mainly because they do their jobs so well we don't think about them.

Thank you to the cashiers at the local independent grocery store. They make eye contact with the customer. They smile. They aren't crabbing with their neighbor cashier over management which is often the norm with the cashiers at my local big name chain store. Grocery shopping is tiring. Prices are depressing. No one likes to wait in line. The last thing I want is to hear disgruntled employees who only address me with the dollar amount owed.
Thank you to the people who remain friendly while working at fast food places, both drive thru windows and inside at the counter. It is hectic when the place is jammed with people, especially the unexpected rush. Some customers are demanding, rude, short tempered slobs. But thankfully, not all employees carry that negativity on their shoulder and pass it on to me when I am in line for a coffee or a diet Coke. I always smile and say thanks. I appreciate the ones who return the friendliness. And if management doesn't think this matters, I am here to tell the McDonald's franchise on 9 Mile Road near Mack that you couldn't pay me to go back to that location. So there!
Thank you to the trash collectors. When my sons were little, one of their friend's moms often told her son that if he didn't do well in school, he'd be nothing more than a trash collector. This always bothered me. Not that she had high aspirations for her child, but that she was making him a snob who thought trash collectors were beneath him. We may go months without needing a doctor and years without needing a lawyer, but if the trash isn't picked up for a week, we sure are inconvenienced!
Thank you to the young kids who used to deliver newspapers years ago, and to the first two rounds of adults who delivered the morning paper after children were culled from that job. Our experience with kids was always good. They were polite. They were on time. They put the paper where you requested it. When we canceled delivery of the Detroit Free Press a few years ago, it wasn't the content, it was delivery that forced the issue. Morning papers delivered long after we left for work, papers heaved at the house from the car idling in the street which either missed the porch entirely or hit the storm door hard enough to rattle it, broken yard lights from incredibly bad aim and deliveries missed entirely. * sigh * I really do miss the delivery boys. Thanks guys. I hope you are as successful as adults as you were when we knew you.
Thank you to the letter carriers. I don't know if carts have been rejected all over the country or just around here. The shoulder bag of mail must be incredibly heavy, especially this time of year with all the extra catalogs and advertising fliers. I know that junk mail helps pay for the cost of all postal services, but what a burden. Literally. I could never do this job. If the weight didn't do me in, the climate would. I am a weather wimp. Thank you carriers, for getting the mail to me regardless of what it is like outside.
To all in these professions (and to those I have failed to mention) who do their job efficiently and pleasantly, I salute you and give thanks. You make my daily life a little brighter.