People say that weddings and funerals bring out the best and the worst in people. Well, evidently, so does the snow.
Image courtesy of Rochester Media
Earlier this week, I parked my car on a street where many commuters park for the train. At the end of the day, I returned to find a very large truck parked so it was nearly touching my rear bumper. The snow plow had come by, and there was a large pile of icy slush by my front bumper. And, someone (I assume the person living in the closest house) had shoveled the sidewalk so that I could not open my driver side door wide enough to get into my car. (It’s also interesting to note that this person had shoveled out a large path through the snow to the street, by my car’s back door. I’m just sayin’.)
I thought the parking and the snow by my door were pretty poor form, but hey, it’s winter and you have to deal with this kind of stuff. I began using my ice scraper to move the pile of icy slush away from the front, street-side of the car so I could get out of the space. Shame on me for not having a shovel in the trunk, and I couldn’t reverse to get out due to the truck.
I was annoyed (and it was dark), but it wasn’t a big deal. As I’m chipping away at the slush with my scraper, I look up towards the house my car was parked near, and saw a big, 30-something guy standing there watching me with his arms crossed. I looked away and kept attempting to move the slush. I looked back and saw him still standing there watching me. He stood like that, watching me. He didn’t come out and offer me a shovel, or offer to help. The longer I worked, with him watching me, the surer I became that it was his truck behind my car, and that he had shoveled the snow in front of my driver’s door. I became angry, but more than that, I felt hurt and disappointed. What kind of person does that? Is this what our society has come to?
Image courtesy of Studio On Fire
It’s not always easy to treat others as you’d like to be treated, but I firmly believe that living by, and doing business by, the Golden Rule will serve you well. A company that delivers the same quality of goods or services to its customers that they, themselves, would want to receive, will prosper. People will show kindness to a person who demonstrates it. Whether in your personal or professional life, a positive reputation will grow out of following the Golden Rule.
