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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. Tears fell from
his eyes as he did that. It was the first time he noticed
that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and had so many
bruises. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered
when he touched them.
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, "No. 1, I know now what appreciation
is. Without my mother, there would not be the successful me
today. No. 2, by working together and helping my mother, I
now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something
done. No. 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and
value of family relationships."
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.
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