Important Questions
Posted by: tz8cy5 <tz8cy5@...>
During my second month of nursing school, 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.
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 ~ Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 PM, 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! She wrote down his address,
thanked him and drove away.
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 ~ 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?"
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of
his pocket and studied a number of coins in it. "How much is a dish of
plain ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a
table and the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she
said brusquely. The little boy again counted the 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 departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping
down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw. There, placed
neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies -- her
tip.
~ 4 ~ 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 big stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On
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. As 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 others never understand. Every obstacle
presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.
~ 5 ~ Giving Blood
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I
got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and
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 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 Liz."
As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister a. He
looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice,
"Will I start to die right away?"
Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was
going to have to give his sister all of his blood.
~ 6 ~ I've Two Choices
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good
mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask
him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would
be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who
had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the
waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural
motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there
telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to
Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person
all of the time. How do you do it?"
Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you
have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you
can choose to be in a bad mood." I choose to be in a good mood. Each
time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to
learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes
to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can
point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of
life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes it is," Jerry
said, "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every
situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You
choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good
mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the
restaurant industry to start my own business.
We lost touch, but often thoughtabout him when I made a choice
about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never
supposed to do in a restaurant business, he left the back door open
one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While
trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped
off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry
was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from
the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw
Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he
was, he said, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds but did ask him what had gone through his
mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my
mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.
"Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices - I
could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live. "Weren't
you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The
paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.
But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the
expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.
In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man. " I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said
Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The
doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took
a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them,
"I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of
his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the
choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.