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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Life Lessons

Lesson 1

The 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."

Lesson 2

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. {Although, a 15 cent tip was pretty
darn good for a 35 cent item back then! 10% would have been 3.5
cents......but still a very important lesson to remember!~~~~}

Always remember those who serve.

Lesson 3

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.

Lesson 4

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 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.

Giving When it Counts...

† † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † †

If you snopes this one, you'll find most are not true; but then
whoever said fables had to be true in order to learn from them?
Because these are simply modern day fables~~~meant to
enlighten and inform in a pleasant and yes, sappy way!

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