What Happened to Helpfulness?

What has happened to helpfulness?  Just pure, straight from the heart goodness?  Why are we so shocked anymore when someone is helpful?

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Lemme tell you a little story...actually two little stories...

 

 

 

Where I work, every Monday morning, new jobs are posted.  And they always post the location.  Some are by territory, some can be negotiated, some are by specific location, and some are even virtual.  (And some, especially the DC positions can be virtual but they don’t advertise it till you negotiate it.)

One particular posting said – “Mid Atlantic Territory.”  I thought, “I wonder if I’m included in that?”

So I emailed the person it said to contact with questions and asked if my city was considered Mid-Atlantic.
 
The response I received was this, “The locations are listed in the posting.  Let me know if you have further questions.”
 
Really?  REALLY?  It took you longer to type that response than to say, “No, I’m sorry it’s not.”  Or “Yes, it is considered Mid-Atlantic.”  That's just laziness.  I wanted to slap that recruiter via email.
 

And now for Story #2
 
I was pregnant with the Princess.  (Hugely preggo.)  It was about 5:15 am on Black Friday and all I needed was an extension ladder for Mr. DDA.  I stood in line at Home Depot like the dutiful wife.  And began to feel extremely woozy…for lack of a better term.  I got really hot, even though it was probably 34 degrees.  And began seeing spots. 

I was going to pass out.  All xxx pounds of me was going to hit the sidewalk.  I wanted to leave...just call it quits and go home.  But all Mr. DDA had asked for that year was this ladder.  So I looked at the guy behind me and asked him to save my spot while I went and sat in my car for a few minutes. 

Probably 20 minutes later, the nice man behind me and a worker from Home Depot came out to my car and knocked on my window.  He asked if I was ok and what I was there for.  I told him I wanted this ladder.  When I got back in line, the gentleman behind me said that he called inside the store and explained what was going on.  And that when the doors opened, they would have my ladder, in a cart, waiting for me at the cash registers.

I was floored.  They really went out of their way on the busiest shopping day of the year.  Talk about helpfulness.  I emailed the store, headquarters, everyone I could think of so I could thank them.

 

Each event left a lasting impression on me. 

 

Why do we sometimes go out of our way to be difficult?  I know it's rough out there.  We'd all like to be Melinda Gates, married to a billionaire and spending our days buying third world countries and giving away money.  But I'm not.  And you're not.  And I doubt Melinda Gates reads a debt blog.  That'd be pretty ironic.

 

But I just think that all of us touch someone every day.  And our interaction can be what defines the department, company, agency, or even Christians as a whole.  (I remind Mr. DDA of that all the time.  When he's unlocking someone's car for his 4th time that day.  That one event can be what decides that person's impression of all of your department.)

 

I'm always lousy at ending my blogs.  I can write a whole blog and not an ending paragraph.  So, I'm just going to say what my Nanny told us all, a gazillion times while we were growing up...

 

"Be yeeee (very Southern) kind, one to another, tenderhearted and forgiving."