Five Lessons

HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE

Five (5) lessons to make you think 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 50s, 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 rainstorm. 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 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assist! ance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurr y, 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 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 is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

\"Wel! l, 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 t he stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulde r, 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 f! or the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never under! stand!

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, h e 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.

Very nice, USD [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

#5 made me cry, cut it out USD.

I read #5 in one of those Chicken Soup for the Soul books. I remember I was on an airplane at the time, and I started crying out loud.

Wow, what a great post. #5 also almost made me cry. That\'s *exactly* why I don\'t read those Chicken Soup For the Soul books- I\'d be one big mass of sobbing red curls.

They should name it \"some blood transfusion\" [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].

Nice post, but you get backstabbed every time you are doin\' something good in my world. That doesn\'t keep me from doin\' good stuff at all but I am in doubt if that\'s really a good habit. The world could be a better place if everybody would take some care but in fact most ppl are after their own gain, hardly a thank you, almost never an attempt to make up for something [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

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Nice post, but you get backstabbed every time you are doin\' something good in my world. That doesn\'t keep me from doin\' good stuff at all but I am in doubt if that\'s really a good habit. The world could be a better place if everybody would take some care but in fact most ppl are after their own gain, hardly a thank you, almost never an attempt to make up for something [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

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Doing something good is both the easiest thing and the most difficult thing. Allowing yourself to be victmized is certainly not going to count as helping anybody. On the other hand if helping is a tricky business, then it is going to take some practice and practice unfortunately means making a lot of mistakes in the beginning; falling on your face, getting up and trying again. I think we can all live in a world where chicken soup for the soul type things happen all around us all day long; where our hearts are soft and gentle; where we feel our own pain rather than foist it off on to others, moving on to helping. Then maybe a miracle will occur: that cold barren dog eat dog moonscape we live in transforms into a beautiful garden of eden. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it. So, I reckon it must take a lot of hard work and involve a lot of doubt and even ridicule. Maybe it takes faith, but even in science, you have to believe in a goal that is not clearly defined to you, driven by a hunch that there is something very cool down the road if you persist.

Thanks for the stories Upsidedown.

Bruce

That\'s very inspiring Bruce .. thanks a lot.

That\'s a nice little piece of philosophic poetry that deserves a frame and a nice place in everybodies office.

What Bruce said....FAITH. That turning the other cheek is a hard hustle! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] People all over this big round ball take kindness for blindness. It kills me how lots of people treat your kindness like you\'re obligated to help them. I do stuff for people all the time, and it\'s pretty much the younger ones that has not been taught how and when to use \"THANK YOU.\" I treat people like I want to be treated, and once they do the dirt, I don\'t do dirt back, I distance myself from them. My bigest mistake was judging people according to how I am. Yes...I get disappointed a lot. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] But still...I haven\'t let the ugliness change me, nor stop me from helping/wanting to help others. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] I was once a volunteer at a soup kitchen, and I felt real proud to help before I worked my first day. I worked two days, and then I quit. Not because I didn\'t want to continue to help, but everyone that came to eat, I grew up with. It was too sad to see them doing bad. Helping others...tis a good thing, and remember...it comes back to you in one good form or another. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Spots of goodness amongst all of the world\'s ugliness is PRICELESS! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Stay the course! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]