One young academically
excellent person went to apply for a managerial
position in a big company.
He passed the first
interview, the director did the last interview,
made the last decision.
The director discovered
from the CV that the youth's academic
achievements were excellent all the way, from
the secondary school until the postgraduate
research, never had a year when he did not
score.
The director asked, 'Did
you obtain any scholarships in school?' the
youth answered 'none'.
The director asked, 'Was it
your father who paid for your school fees?' The
youth answered, 'My father passed away when I
was one year old, it was my mother who paid for
my school fees.
The director asked, 'Where
did your mother work?' The youth answered, 'My
mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director
requested the youth to show his hands. The youth
showed a pair of hands that were smooth and
perfect.
The director asked, 'Have
you ever helped your mother wash the clothes
before?' The youth answered, 'Never, my mother
always wanted me to study and read more books.
Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster
than me.
The director said, 'I have
a request. When you go back today, go and clean
your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow
morning.*
The youth felt that his
chance of landing the job was high. When he went
back, he happily requested his mother to let him
clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy
but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to
the kid.
The youth cleaned his
mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did
that. It was the first time he noticed that his
mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were
so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were
so painful that his mother shivered when they
were cleaned with water.
This was the first time the
youth realized that it was this pair of hands
that washed the clothes everyday to enable him
to pay the school fee. The bruises in the
mother's hands were the price that the mother
had to pay for his graduation, academic
excellence and his future.
After finishing the
cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly
washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.
That night, mother and son
talked for a very long time.
Next morning, the youth
went to the director's office.
The Director noticed the
tears in the youth's eyes, asked: 'Can you tell
me what have you done and learned yesterday in
your house?'
The youth answered, 'I
cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished
cleaning all the remaining clothes'
The Director asked, 'please
tell me your feelings.'
The youth said, Number 1, I
know now what is appreciation. Without my
mother, there would not the successful me today.
Number 2, by working together and helping my
mother, only I now realize how difficult and
tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I
have come to appreciate the importance and value
of family relationship.
The director said, 'This is
what I am looking for to be my manager. I want
to recruit a person who can appreciate the help
of others, a person who knows the sufferings of
others to get things done, and a person who
would not put money as his only goal in life.
You are hired.
Later on, this young person
worked very hard, and received the respect of
his subordinates. Every employee worked
diligently and as a team. The company's
performance improved tremendously.
A child, who has been
protected and habitually given whatever he
wanted, would develop 'entitlement mentality'
and would always put himself first. He would be
ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts
work, he assumes that every person must listen
to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would
never know the sufferings of his employees and
would always blame others. For this kind of
people, who may be good academically, may be
successful for a while, but eventually would not
feel sense of achievement. He will grumble and
be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are
this kind of protective parents, are we really
showing love or are we destroying the kid
instead?*
You can let your kid live
in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano,
watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting
grass, please let them experience it. After a
meal, let them wash their plates and bowls
together with their brothers and sisters. It is
not because you do not have money to hire a
maid, but it is because you want to love them in
a right way. You want them to understand, no
matter how rich their parents are, one day their
hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that
young person. The most important thing is your
kid learns how to appreciate the effort and
experience the difficulty and learns the ability
to work with others to get things done.
You would have forwarded
many mails to many and many of them would have
back mailed you too...but try and forward this
story to as many as possible...this may change
somebody's fate...