During those first few weeks of the Copeland campaign, I had delivered my standard program; but all the while I was searching for a secret weapon and an Achilles' heel. Every company seemed to have one of each. At Copeland I found both in the old people, the heart and soul of the home. The Copeland employees loved those old people, every last one of them. Some of those old folks were cranky, some were ill, and some wouldn't talk at all. Nursing home work could be dirty, unpleasant, emotionally trying, sometimes demeaning. But for many workers, their relationships with the old men and women of Copeland transformed a mundane job into a vocation. Nurses, nurse's aides, housekeepers, cooks, waitresses, all of them, what they wanted most was to please the old people, to make their lives a little more comfortable. It didn't take much: a witty conversation, a special favor, a little time spent looking over pictures of great-grandchildren or admiring vintage jewelry. It brought the workers great joy to know that they were making the old people's lives just a little better, and it made them feel important. It was no accident that Copeland employees were so tender with the elderly residents; Claude had incorporated love and respect for the old people into every job description. When a worker was hired, even for the kitchen or the laundry room, she was told, "We are here for the residents. They pay your salary, and they are the most important part of your job. Talk to them. Take a little time out for them. Show them you care."