As I have explained to you many times before, despite what television would have you believe, it takes more than a handsome Homicide Detective and a sexy CSI to work a murder.  There is an entire cast of characters working behind the scenes of every death.  Too often, the glowing accolades go to the wrong people.

Let me tell you about a most humble man . . .

For the sake of his privacy, I'll call him Mr. Bartlett.  I ALWAYS address him as Mr. Bartlett despite the fact that we are probably the same age. He is my hero and I give him the utmost respect that he has earned over countless dead men.  Mr. Bartlett's job is to pick up the dead bodies and transport them to the morgue.  Hollywood doesn't tend to showcase this job, or when they do, they depict a creepy, slow-witted Renfield sort of creature - someone strong and too dumb or too weird to be bothered by this gruesome task. Mr. Bartlett is none of these things. 

He is a most delightful person who sweeps into a crime scene like a breath of fresh air. Despite the fact that the corspe before him has decomposed into the carpet, is wedged behind a bathroom door, and weighs 250 lbs, Mr. Bartlett never fails to maintain his good humor. As he picks up bodies that the flesh is literally falling off the bone, he does it with a patient smile, and I marvel, and gag a little.  

Yesterday I said to him, "You never seem to get down. You keep everyone else cheery. You are my hero.  How do you do it?"

He gave me a smile and said the most profound thing.

"I see fewer flies."

And with that, he went inside to pick up the man who'd been dead so long that he'd been eaten by his dog.

I chewed on those words a while and decided that perhaps that was the wisest thing I'd ever heard. Perhaps the world would be a much brighter place if we just concentrated on the good around us, and saw "fewer flies."