Doing the little things

Tweet

One stormy night many years ago, an elderly couple entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a room. The clerk explained that because there were three conventions in town, the hotel was filled. The clek, who lived in the hotel, said, "But I can't send a nice couple like you out in the rain at 1 o'clock in the morning," "Would you be willing to sleep in my room?" The couple hesitated, but the clerk insisted. The next morning when the man paid his bill, he told the clerk, "You're the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States." Maybe someday I'll build one for you. "The clerk smiled, amused by the old man's "little joke." A few years passed. Then one day the clerk received a letter from the elderly man recalling that stormy night and asking him to come to New York for a visit. A round trip ticket was enclosed. When the clerk arrived, his host took him to the corner of 5th Avenue and 34th Street, where a grand new building stood. "That," explained the elderly man, "is the hotel I have just build for you to manage." "You must be joking," the clerk said. "I'm most assuredly am not," came the reply. "Who are you?" stammered the clerk. The man answered, "My name is WILLIAM WALDORF ASTOR." The hotel was the original Waldorf-Astoria, one of the most magnificent hotels in New York. The young clerk who became its first manager was GEORGE C. BOLDT. This article was pass on to me by a good friend, and has been with me for years. Everytime I read it, I was always filled with compassion. The clerk did little thing that stormy night and big thing came to him by nd by. Often we get so caught up in our work and in a world that idolizes higly successful and glamorous people that we ignore little things. As a result, we neglect something if it does not have a dollar value or a direct relationship to our success at work. Do you ignore the little things like dropping someone an encouraging note, or extending them a deserving "thank you?" How frequently do you take time out of a workday to help someone, or to help faithful people reach and serve others?