August 01, 2003

Today is bulk mail day!

I have previously mentioned that from time to time, my Aunt Jeanette likes to forward all the emails she gets to me. She is on AOL and I am pretty sure that people on AOL automatically forward everything they get to everyone on their address list. She must check hers once a month or so. I get all kinds of religious pamphlet stuff and virus warnings and every internet hoax that is going around. I have mentioned to her that I am not a big fan of people forwarding such stuff to me and rarely ever forward anything to anyone. I will never forward it back to the person who sent it to me even if it means I supposedly said I do not love you or like you by having failed to do so. She understood my reasoning, but she responded with: "I do not care if you forward it or even read it. I just send it to you so that you will know I am thinking of you." You cannot argue with that. So, I get this barrage of email once in a blue moon and I actually do go through it. I feel it is the least I can do to actually look thhrough what has been sent. I have, on occasion, discovered something of merit in this mass mailing. Today, I thought two were worthy of posting, with my additional comentary:

HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE

Five 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.

I wholeheartedly agree that all people deserve the same respect and consideration no matter what their position.
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 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."

You should not actually expect to be rewarded for doing that which you should do anyway. No decent person, under such circumstances, should leave any person in such dire straits.
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.

She cried? Why? Out of her own shame for having been a crude indecent human being who failed to give a young child the proper attention he deserved solely because he was making an insignificant purchase. Yes, do tip. Waiters and waitresses do have families to feed. You can bet there are not too many who do that for the glamor of the job. Rusty's rule was to tip a buck per person, whether each had a cup of coffee or a dinner. Of course, Rusty dined mostly at the Truck Stop. You might have to tip a bit more at the Waldorff.
4. Fourth Important Lesson - The Obstacles 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.

Pish posh! All of us have an obligation to do that which we can to benefit our community. The King merely rewarded one who understood it was his obligation to do what he could, despite his position in life. The reward, once its existence was made known, was punishment to those who failed to do what they could. You can bet that there were a bunch of rich guys moving boulders out of the road after that episode.
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 cheeks. 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.

Not to undermine the boy's noble act and intent, it is incredible to believe that neither the doctor nor the boy's parents had fully explained to him his risks in providing the blood to his sister.

Then there was this:

After 17 years of marriage, a man dumped his wife for a younger woman. The downtown luxury apartment was in his name and he wanted to remain there with his new love so he asked the wife to move out and then he would buy her another place. The wife agreed to this, but asked that she be given 3 days on her own there, to pack up her things.

While he was gone, the first day she lovingly put her personal belongings into boxes and crates and suitcases. On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things. On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their candlelit Dining table, soft music playing in the background, and feasted on a pound of shrimp and a bottle of Chardonnay. When she had finished, she went into each room and deposited a few of the resulting shrimp shells into the hollow of the curtain rods. She then cleaned up the kitchen and left.

The husband came back, with his new girl, and all was bliss for the first few days. Then it started; slowly but surely. Clueless, the man could not explain why the place smelled so bad. They tried everything; cleaned & mopped and aired the place out. Vents were checked for dead rodents, carpets were steam cleaned, Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in, the carpets were replaced, and on it went.

Finally, they could take it no more and decided to move. The Moving company arrived and did a very professional packing job, taking everything to their new home......including the curtain rods.

OK, look even dead rats stop smelling after a couple of weeks. I know this because I have had a couple die up under the fridge, stove, or sometimes I can only imagine, but they do stop stinking sooner or later. There is no way I am going to believe that some shrimp skins stuck in curtain rods are gonna stink up a whole house enough to make someone move. Of course, the guy was an idiot of allowing his wife to stay there for three days, all alone. If you are keeping the house, guys, pack up her stuff and kick it to the curb before you allow her to stay there for three days. You know what kind of damage a woman can do to a house in three days. Shrimp skins in curtain rods, posh! One last thought on this scenario: If you should ever find yourself with a bad smell in your house that you can not locate and therefore feel the urge to move, calculate exactly how much you will have to expend to accomplish the move, and call me. For whatever that amount may be, I will locate the source of that smell. Your savings will be the hassle of packing. My weenie wolf can sniff out anything, especially if it is really stinky. For some reason, he finds such items to be especially appetizing.

Posted by Tiger at August 1, 2003 02:13 PM
Comments

Shame that none of these stories are true...

Posted by: Pixy Misa at August 2, 2003 08:54 AM

I didn't assume they were true. What I did notice that there were flaws with most of the examples. ;)

Posted by: Tiger at August 2, 2003 09:00 AM