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 pa per, 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 elderly
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 60s..
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 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.
'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
de ep 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.
Thank you all
MsBratt
