Who will I meet today? What can I give them? What will I learn

 

Who will I meet today?  What Can I Give Them?  What Can I Learn?

It wasn't a busy night in my restaurant, several years ago.  As I came from the back of the restaurant into one of the dining rooms, I noticed a man sitting by himself, facing the back of the restaurant.  No one else was around.  Well, I made it a point to strike up a conversation with people who came in alone, giving them some attention so that they'd feel at home.  It was about 7:00 when I stopped by the booth where he was sitting.  I said "hello" and we struck up a conversation.   Guess what time I sad goodnight to this gentlemen?  About 2:00 in the morning in the parking lot outside the restaurant.  And we've been friends ever since.

It turned out that this fellow, a regular looking guy, was one of the smartest men I'd every met in my life.  About my age of 60, he told how he'd taken over a business supplying electronic items to the government and grew it exponentially into a multi-million dollar operation before selling it.  Later on, when he did an analysis of my business for me, I realized just how sharp and intelligent he was.  One thing stood out in my mind.  He mentioned that he'd never really had a failure in business.  He made it a point to know and plan well. But that's not the point of my story.

History is full of stories of prominent people whom you'd never recognize, walking around, even monarchs who went into their kingdom in disguise to see what was going on.  That odd looking fellow with a beard on a bench in the park might turn out to be the CEO of a famous company who just decided to get out of the rat race and live like Thoreau, away from the crowd incognito.  If you sit next to him on the bench and throw away your preconceived notions, you might just have the opportunity to gather up gems of wisdom that might change your life.  And you don't know where you're going to come across these special people.  So, here's an approach that might well stay you in good stead each day, something to remind yourself to do each day.  As you come across folks ask, "What can I learn from this person."  And there's another part to this.  "What can I give this person?"  That back and forth between two people of good will benefits both.

What's at the core of this adage, "What Can I give to this person” and “What can I learn from this person?"  It's charity. Charity, not in the sense of donations but in the older meaning of general good will to all, treating them as we would wish to be treated. The U.S. was a very special place where folks learned to give out that good will to others no matter their language, religion, race, or country of origin.  Sure there were rough spots in this process, but the old melting pot did wonders--people learned to get along in spite of their differences, unlike the warring societies of the Old World.  They learned to be charitable, that is, give good will to others.  They were practicing the adage without realizing it:  "What can I learn from this person?  What can I give to this person?"  And that made for a better world around them.

In the middle of the comings and goings of this ole' world, the skirmishes and fights, the anger, vindictiveness, mayhem and conflict, it's easy to get caught up in the general sentiment and forget that there may be a very special person out there for us to meet today, someone with a marvelous perspective to share, someone who can be instrumental in changing our very lives, someone we may overlook because we're not looking correctly. Who will you meet today?  Who will they be?  Where will they come from?  Will they be a simple person--old, young? Who are you expecting? What will you learn from them?  What will you give back?  Will you capture a golden opportunity? Or will you not notice them or even turn them away?