"You look like you could use a friend."
The young man didn't even look up as he replied, "Is it that evident?" "I don't mean to pry, but I thought that maybe you'd like to talk about it." This sentence caused the young man to look and see that his new acquaintance was a plain looking elderly gentleman with a kind smile and a twinkle in his eyes that invited trust.
"Maybe it would help to tell someone. Please sit down. Sir, you are looking at one of the greatest, most colossal failures of all time, a three-time loser and more. I've just been fired for the third time in 18 months. Pretty soon, the way things are going, it's going to get out that this is one accountant of no account. And when I arrived home this afternoon, there was a note from my wife. She said she couldn't stand my depressed attitude anymore and had gone up north to be with her sister."
The elderly gentleman leaned forward and asked what reason the company gave for letting him go.
"Oh, they said I'm too talkative in the office and that I upset other people's concentration. But you see, Bill Page's wife had presented him with their first child after two miscarriages, and I had thrown a surprise celebration."
"Well, that doesn't sound like such a crime..."
"Yes, but two days before that, I had returned from lunch an hour and a half late, and the previous week I had engaged the office manager in a two hour argument over the possibility of creating a new staff policy of having secret pals, where each week everyone would receive a surprise present from an unknown giver, so people would have something special to look forward to."
"Why were you late returning from lunch?" the elderly gentleman asked.
"The girl at the candy counter in the lobby of my office told me her son had gotten sick at school, and she couldn't go get him because she didn't have a replacement. So I got a note from her for the school nurse and drove over to the school and took the little fella over to his grandmothers. I just lost track of the time." "Did your wife give any specific reason why she left you?"
"She said that I was no longer the man she fell in love with. You see, we met in college, and I was student body president and she was in charge of one of the charity drives we organized. She said that when she was with me, she felt like a hostess to the whole world."
"It seems to me that you're more gifted with people than you are with numbers," the old gentleman observed.
"Yeah, whatever. Hey, thanks for listening pal. I hope I didn't depress you. It was kind of you to care." With that, the young man got up and walked away.
Watching him, the old man sighed, "I'm sorry God. Once again I've failed. Since I retired, I asked you to show me a way to serve others, and you have led me to many people who need help, and each time I have been useless." If only the old listener could have witnessed what happened next.
After walking away from the park bench and around the corner, the young man stopped as he... Continue
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