The Moral of the Story

Cindy Trane Christeson

“Here is my creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That he

ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we render him is

doing good to his other children.” -- Benjamin Franklin

“Where would your daughter’s shorts like to travel this week?’ asked

the delightful young woman at the cleaners recently. The last time I’d

been there she had sadly said to me, “I am really sorry, but your

daughter’s shorts are on their way to New York right now. A customer came

in a big hurry for his clothes, and somehow he scooped up her shorts at

the same time,” she explained. “We didn’t look closely because a taxi was

waiting to take him to catch a plane to New York.

“When we realized our mistake, he was gone. I know he’ll come in as

soon as he returns. We’ll clean any other clothes for free until they

return, and I’ll drive them to your house the minute they do.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I said. “Amy has other clothes for work. You

don’t need to call, I’ll just stop in when I go to the market, and that’s

pretty often.”

Each time I went in during the week the shorts were traveling, she

apologized and thanked me.

“Not every one would be so nice about it,” she said.

“I don’t think I reacted any differently than anybody else,” I

replied.

“You’d be surprised,” she responded.

She was right. Twice soon after that, I was surprised at what I

observed. One afternoon my daughter, Kelly, and I went to a sale at a

department store in Fashion Island. All the clerks looked very weary. One

sales lady looked close to tears as she tried to stay polite while being

berated by a loud and angry customer.

“I want to go over and try to help, but I don’t know what I’d do,”

Kelly said. Two days later, I saw a similar incident, but this time there

was something I could do.

I was in line at a market and noticed a problem at the checkout stand.

A woman repeatedly slid her credit card through the machine. The cashier

nicely reached over and helped. The woman must have wanted cash back

because the cashier asked her to input the PIN number. Apparently she

couldn’t remember it, and neither could the man with her, but they acted

like it was the cashier’s fault. They became very rude when the cashier

said, “I’m sorry, but I am not allowed to give money without the correct

PIN.”

She remained polite as the complaining continued and the line

lengthened. Finally the couple stomped off, but the woman glared at the

cashier before they left. When it was my turn, I complimented the cashier

on her patience. The woman behind me agreed, and then the cashier

surprised us by saying, “I still bet there is an angry phone call to my

manager.”

“We’ll vouch for you,” I said. The cashier called the manager over and

we told her what we witnessed. Both she and the cashier thanked us.

Sometimes the best thing we can do for others is to be in prayer for

them. But there are other times when we can also get involved for them.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She can be reached via e-mail at

cindy@onthegrow.com or through the mail at P.O. Box 6140-#505, Newport

Beach 92658.