Thomas Edison once said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

While 18-year-old Austin Bell’s work doesn’t require overalls, the colorful parrot costume he wears and bright orange sign he displays might be a deterrent to some job seekers.

If you’ve driven down South Fourth Street in Ironton lately, you’ve seen Bell dancing and playing air guitar, all in the name of a hard day’s work, to promote Little Caesars’ Hot-N-Ready pizzas. You also may have noticed that Bell always brings his A-game to a job that many people would deem degrading.

The fact is, the job is anything but degrading and there are many things we can all learn from this young man who is trying to earn some extra cash while in college.

Bell clearly has pride in his work. Will his sign dancing career lead him up the Little Caesars corporate ladder? Probably not. But the fact that he takes his job seriously and goes above and beyond what management expects are traits we should all aspire to.

Bell also seems to have a grasp on what many people are never fortunate enough to realize in themselves — self-actualization.

Considered the apex of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualized people are, among other things, spontaneous and open to unconventional ideas and understand the importance of independence and privacy.

There aren’t many of us who would willingly stand out in public and dance around in a silly costume all by ourselves. But Bell has met the challenge head on and is a shining example of how anyone can show pride in his or her job, no matter the salary or wages and no matter the task.