5
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 I 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 colour 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 who 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.
"Fifty
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. "Thirty-five 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
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 colour
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.
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I didn't make this up, by the way! Mom sent it to me in an email, and I thought they were really neat :)
