A Memorable Person

Once I was called in to work with a department that was rife with dissension, and the first thing I did was to interview each employee privately, seeking to understand how each one fit into the dynamic.

One man I interviewed told this story: He grew up in Africa. When he was very young, both of his parents died, and his country had no plan for caring for orphans. So he was on his own. But before he died, his father told him, “Go to school. Get an education.” Feeding and clothing himself from trash, he obeyed his father, never missing a day of school. He said, “I paid close attention when I saw parents with their children. I listened to what the parent said, and then I took the words for myself.” Thus he learned how to behave.

Finally he came to the attention of the authorities when he was about to graduate at the head of his class. Then the government made sure he had a new suit of clothes and a scholarship to a prestigious university in England. Eventually he came to the U.S., and when I met him, he had a wife, children, and good job.

This story always brings me back to the resilience of the human spirit, the power of education, and the utter triviality of most things that trouble us.

You write it: Who is a memorable person in your life? What did they teach you?