Five lessons about the way we treat people…
1 – First Important Lesson – Cleaning Lady.
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read
The last one:
“What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50’s, but how would I know her name?
I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
“Absolutely, ” said the professor.. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant.. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello..”
I’ve never forgotten that lesson.. I also learned her name was Dorothy.
2. – Second Important Lesson – Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.
She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached..
It read:
“Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along..
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s’ bedside just before he passed away… God Bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole.
3 – Third Important Lesson – Always remember those w
ho serve.
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.
“How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked.
“Twenty-five cents,” replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.
“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired.
By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient..
“Twenty cents,” she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins.
“I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said.
The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels Dimes, I meant Dimes… and five pennies.
You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.
4 – Fourth Important Lesson. – The obstacle in Our Path.
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s’ wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.. Many loudly blamed the
King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the
person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!
Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.
5 – Fifth Important Lesson – Giving When it Counts…
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only
chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.
I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, “Yes I’ll do it if it will save
her.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed
next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing
the color returning to her cheek. Then his face
grew pale and his smile faded.
He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away”?
Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister all of his blood in order to save her.
We can ALL learn from these… Nuff said…
I think #3 has an error…….. otherwise the math don’t work out ……
should be 2 dimes instead of 2 nickels 🙂
You read #5 and you are worried about # 3?
I copied this for my blog, corrected the nickels, and gave you the H/T.
Alway good to be reminded.
There power in these stories.
*There is*
Great Post! Thank You
Wonderful! And all are very true.
Every person out there, whether we like them or not, is someone’s parent or child. If we treated those folks like we wanted our parents or children treated, there would be no meanness in the world.
Anon- You’re right… now fixed..
Linda- you’re more than welcome.
WSF/ADM- Yep
SS/RT- You’re welcome
Snigs- WE know that, however there is a large portion of the population that no longer (if they ever did) believe that. They want what THEY want, and NOW…
Lest we should forget we are all in this life together.We also forget what Jesus commanded us to do.
John 13:34-35 (King James Version)
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
I loved this – thank you
Thanks for the reminder Jim. One of the things I’ve found in life to be true is that you can really know someone by the way they treat the waiters – which is the point of #1, I guess.
(Well apart from that ‘odd’ waiter we struck in Sydney).
In a blogoshpere where snark, pettiness and and disrespect seem the norm, you postings have enlivened and enlighted me. Often when I’ve need that most. Thank you.
AMEN. And thank you.
Well worth remembering. thanks!
Fuzzy- Yep
TOL- You’re welcome!
Julie- Yep, he was a ‘bit’ strange…
Argie- Thanks!
George/Anon- You’re welcome!
Sir,
I added this to my blog along with a linkie to your website
Thank you!!
Respectfully
“MrG”
Sniff, sniff. Darn you, ;). Kinda gives more credence to the statement “a little child shall lead them”, huh?
I needed that 🙂
Joe Harwell
=D
Your post made me smile, and if you can make me smile while my husband’s away, it automatically makes you an Awesome Person.
Mr G/Joe- You’re welcome!
Mini- I’m glad, thoughts and prayers for him will continue till he returns!
Excellent, and I would love to add 2 stories that have helped to guide me in how I treat others.
My father is a retired maintenance supervisor from one of the big three. He told me of a new processes engineer, full of piss and vinegar, going to fix the ills of the world, well at least the plant. But first you need to know that this car plant was scheduled to build a little over a car a minute, and had everyone sold it could make.
They needed to make a process change and this young engineer studied the requirements and proceeded to design the changes to the section of the assembly line. Placed the design in front of my Dad, who then wanted to ask a few questions. This young engineer told my father, industrial electrical for over 20 years that the design was correct.
As my dad assigned the work to his guys, welder, electrician, tool maker and such, they had questions. Yet again, they where told to complete the design.
Monday morning 7am came, and the changes where complete. When the line was start moving, well, you guessed it, it did not. After a few minutes, the area supervisor was called, few more minutes the plant manager, and after a few more a call was received from Detroit.
The engineer got a second chance, but the next time, he approached my Dad and simply said, “So what do you think?”
The second one, similar to a few, but hopefully worth saying.
A gentlemen my family purchased a of cars from told me about his biggest lesson in life. It happened about 15 or 20 years before I had the chance to meet the gentleman.
They had a very desirable pony car in the show room of this dealership. A teenager can in to look at it, ask him how much? He replied to the seemingly young pup, too much. And him how he thought he could afford it.
The young man walked out, showed up later in the week with the competitions pony car.
To put it simply, it was an expensive lesson, but a simple one. He never made that mistake again, ensured he treated every single person with respect.
When I last heard about this salesman, near the end of his career, he had the opportunity to take care of his ailing wife, when most of his customers where in the market, they would call him, wait to meet him at the dealership.
By nature, I am a quick to respond, and can be somewhat arrogant. But with these stories, I have grown to moderate what leaves my mouth and ensure I treat people in a manor that exceeds what how I expect/prefer to be treated myself.
You’ve given more lesson’s to keep this in mind.
thanks.
Tom
Thanks Tom, those are BOTH good lessons!
Forty years ago, when I was teaching in NJ, most of the other 100+ teachers wondered where I was getting cold sodas on hot Spring days. The custodians had a soda machine. About 5 of us knew this, because we always said thank you and never bitched. And remember to take goodies in when it isn’t a special day to the secretarial staff! OldeForce