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".
Who paid for your
school fees...?
" Parents
", he replied.
"Where did they
work......?"
"They 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 parents wash the clothes ?"
"Never, my
parents always wanted me to study and read more books.
Besides, my parents
can wash clothes faster than me.
The director said,
"I have a request.
When you go home
today, go and clean your parents hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.
The youth felt
dejected.
When he went back
home, he asked his parents to let him clean their hands.
His parents felt
strange, happy but with mixed feelings,
They showed their
hands to their son.
The youth cleaned
their hands slowly.
His tear fell as he
did that.
It was the first
time he noticed that his parents hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many
bruises in their hands.
Some bruises were so
painful that they 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
hands were the price that the parents had to pay for his education, his school
activities and his future.
After cleaning his
parents hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for them.
That night, parents
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 parents
hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'
“I now know what
appreciation is.
Without my parents,
I would not be who I am today...
By helping my
parents, 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.”
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.
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
grey, same as the parent 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...