(The following story has been doing the buzz on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (mostly in French) ... the English transcript isn't perfect
A young man applied for an important position at a large corporate. He passed the initial set of interviews and was about to meet the director for the final interview. The director saw his resume, it was excellent. And asked:
'Have you received a scholarship for school?' The boy replied, 'No.''Was it your parents who paid for your studies?''Yes, it was my father.'- He replied.'Where does your father work?''My father is a Blacksmith!'
The Director asked the young to show him his hands. The young man showed a pair of hands soft and perfect. 'Have you ever helped your parents at their job?''Never, my parents always wanted me to study and read more books. Besides that, my father can do the job better than me.' The director said:'I have got a request: When you go home today, go and wash the hands of your father and then come see me tomorrow morning.'
The young felt his chance to get the job was high and when he returned to his house he asked his father if he would allow him to wash his hands.
His father felt the request was strange, he was happy, but with mixed feelings and showed his hands to his son. The young washed his hands, step by step. It was the first time that he noticed his father's hands were wrinkled and they had so many scars. Some bruises were so painful that his skin shuddered when he touched them.
This was the first time that the young man recognized what it meant for this pair of hands to work every day to be able to pay for his study. The bruises on the hands were the price that he paid for their education, his school activities and his future. After cleaning his father's hands the young man stood in silence and began to tidy and clean up the workshop.
That night, father and son talked for a long time.
The next morning, the young man went to the office of the director. The director noticed the tears in the eyes of the young when He asked him: 'Can you tell me what you did and what you learned yesterday at your house?' The boy replied: 'I washed my father's hands and when I finished I stayed and cleaned his workshop.''Now I know what it is to appreciate and recognize that without my parents, I would not be who I am today. By helping my father I now realize how difficult and hard it is to do something on my own. I have come to appreciate the importance and value of helping the family.
The director said, "This is what I look for in my people. I want to hire someone who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the hardship of others to do things, and a person who does not put money as his only goal in life'. 'You are hired!'
A child that has been coddle,, protected and usually given what they want, develops a mentality of, 'I have the right', and will always put himself first, ignoring the efforts of their parents and others. You can give your child a big house, good food, computer classes, a big-screen TV, but when you're washing the floor or painting a wall or fixing something, please let them experience that too.
After eating have them wash the dishes with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you have no money to hire someone to do this, it's because you want to love them the right way. No matter how rich you are, you want them to understand that one day your hair will be grey, like the father of this young man.
The most important thing is that our child learns to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulties, and learn the ability to work with others to get things done.
Author unknown