Rules to live by when dealing with support staff (custodial, secretarial, food service).
1. Fully inform them of your needs for space, cleaning aids (brooms, paper products, copies etc.) and time you will need to be in the area.
2. If you make a mess clean it up. Your custodian(s) already have more than enough to do without cleaning up after you!
3. Thank them profusely when they do something nice for you and bite your tongue if everything doesn't go well. Remember, everyone has their good and bad days. Maybe you just hit one of their bad days on your good day. Deal with it and move on.
4. The gracious in gracious professionalism should move into all areas of your conscious actions. Not just when you are in FIRST. Make it a point every day to be gracious in everything you do and with everyone you meet. In this way conflicts will be minor and soon forgiven or forgotten.
5. A happy support staff can make your efforts or break your efforts. Its much easier to deal with the former than have to lament the latter.
Cheers!
Curse those filthy wrench-swinging rivet-popping screw-driving hammer-smashing mechanical barbarians. Hand over the robot to the programmers! - cjl2625 [more] 
Re: How supportive is your school janitor?
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