One
young man went to apply for a managerial position in a
big company. He passed the initial interview, and now
would meet the director for the final interview.
The
director discovered from his CV that the youth's
academic achievements were excellent. He asked, "Did
you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth
answered "no".
"
Was it your father who paid for your school fees?"
"My
father passed away when I was one year old, it was my
mother who paid for my school fees.” he replied.
"
Where did your mother work?"
"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.
"
Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes
before?"
"Never,
my mother always wanted me to study and read more
books. Besides, my mother can wash clothes faster than
me.
The
director said, "I have a request. When you go home
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 home, he asked his mother to let him
clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but
with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to her son.
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 winced when he touched it.
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 fees. The bruises in the
mother's hands were the price that the mother had to
pay for his education, his school activities and his
future.
After
cleaning 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, when
he 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'
“I
know now what appreciation is. Without my mother, I
would not be who I am today. By helping my mother,
only now do I realize how difficult and tough it is to
get something done on your own. And I have come to
appreciate the importance and value of helping one’s
family.
The
director said, "This is what I am looking for in a
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.”
This
young person worked very hard, and received the
respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked
diligently and worked as a team. The company's
performance improved tremendously.
A
child, who has been protected and habitually given
whatever he wanted, would develop an "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, they may be successful for a while, but
eventually they would not feel a sense of achievement.
They 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 our
children instead?
You
can let your child live in a big house, eat a good
meal, learn piano, watch on 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 child learns how to appreciate the
effort and experience the difficulty and learns the
ability to work with others to get things done.
