So often friends pledge great loyalty to each other. How many, though, would willingly take a risk with their life and health for a friend?
A number of years ago, Newsweek reported on two friends who worked together as nurses. One was experiencing kidney failure. After many attempts to find a kidney failed, the healthy nurse approached her sick friend. With some effort, she convinced her friend to let her donate a kidney.
The risk that the healthy nurse took and the sacrifice she made for her friend brought happiness to both of them. Of course, as they reported, their friendship deepened.
Taking a risk for a friend is a very special act. It happens far too infrequently. Even more special is the willingness to take a risk for someone you do not know. Clearly, there are many people who are willing and motivated to do this, too. In addition to firemen and policemen, who take such risks professionally, there are daily reports of heroes who have rescued someone.
There are also those who die from taking risks for others. One group that comes to mind is those soldiers who in war fall on mines to protect their comrades. Another group is the musicians who played on the Titanic deck as it sank, trying to keep people calm, knowing that there were not enough lifeboats for all.
Live heroes are usually honored with local recognition.
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Excerpted and adapted from a collection of vignettes I published, copyright 2003.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
This Is Priceless
Another "must-share" from the Internet, sent, this time, by my brother. A good lesson for any manager -- and a great laugh for any employee. The title of the Internet story I have retained; it is quite fitting: it is priceless.
If you've ever worked for a boss who reacts before getting the facts and thinking things through ? you will love this!
Arcelor-Mittal Steel, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hired a new CEO. The new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers.
On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning against a wall. The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business. He asked the guy, "How much money do you make a week?"
A little surprised, the young man looked at him and said, "I make $400 a week. Why?"
The CEO said, "Wait right here." He walked back to his office, came back in two minutes, and handed the guy $1,600 in cash and said, "Here's four weeks' pay. Now GET OUT and don't come back."
Feeling pretty good about himself, the CEO looked around the room and asked, "Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-ball did here?"
From across the room a voice said,
"Pizza delivery guy from Domino's."
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About Me
- Elizabeth Mahlou
- I am the mother of 4 birth children (plus 3 others who lived with us) and grandmother of 2, all of them exceptional children. Married for 42 years, I grew up in Maine, live in California, and work in many places in education, linguistics, and program management. In my spare time, I rescue and tame feral cats and have the scars to prove it. A long-time ignorantly blissful atheist converted by a theophanic experience to Catholicism, I am now a joyful catechist. Oh, I also authored a dozen books, two under my pen name of Mahlou (Blest Atheist and A Believer-in-Waiting's First Encounters with God).
Recommended Reading List
Because I am blog inept, I don't quite know how to get a reading list to stay at the end of the page and not disappear from sight. Therefore, I entered it as my first post. I suppose that is not all that bad because readers started commenting about the books, even suggesting additional readings. So, you can participate with others in my reading list by clicking here.I do post additional books as I read them and find them to be meaningful to me, and therefore, hopefully, meaningful to you. One advantage of all the plane traveling I do is that I acquire reading time that I might not otherwise take.