Picture this: There was a man at the counter of a business, serving the public. He had a customer, a woman. No one except the two involved knows exactly what started the argument, but the man greatly insulted the woman, ending with, "And you women are all alike!" The woman said not a word, just turned around and left the building.
The man's boss came in at the end of the conversation, heard the insult, heard the last comment. She was just furious inside, that the man would act so beastly with a customer - or anyone. The boss quickly decided to act 'bossly,' bring him into her office privately and talk with him in a calm, responsible manner.
The boss asked the man what exactly happened to cause the customer to abruptly leave. The man told the truth, word for word. Then the boss asked the man, "And how do you think your customer felt after you said that?"
"I know it was a terrible thing to say, it wasn't true, I just wanted to hurt her, I suppose I really did hurt her. I wish it had never happened. I wish I had never said those things," he confessed.
Then the boss asked the man, "Can you possibly apologize to her?"
"Yes, I'll call her right now," he agreed. And he did. Peace was restored to the business.
I greatly admired this boss for the way she handled this incident. She could have fired him on the spot, put him down for probably losing a valuable customer, and/or reported him to the Human Resources Department for sexual harassment. But she chose to give him a chance to explain.
I also admired the customer for (apparently) listening to the man's apology and continuing to be a customer of the business.
I also admired the man who knew he was wrong, admitted it, and said he was truly sorry.
There are certain things which should be never said and never thought! What comes out of our mouths reflect what's in our mind and our hearts! We all need to be aware of any bad attitudes that creep into our thinking.
Lord, bless the peacemakers! Help us all be peacemakers, if we have the opportunity!
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