The woman with scars on her hands
There was a successful graduate who was applying for a job. When he
got to the companies manager, the manager was asking him: “Why did you
get such good grades?”
He explained: “I’m from a very poor background. My mum kept telling me
if I would just succeed in education I would have the chance to get a
good job und by doing that, I could get out of the poor living
standard I’m used to have. So I was really giving my best, was
studying hard, spent hours of exercising and reviewing a day. Yes, I
took it serious. I was focussed and I know how hardworking I was.
Because of that, I got the good results.”
The manager then asked: “What is your mum doing to provide food and a
place to stay for you during all these year?” He answered: “My mum
washes clothes from morning to evening. She gets little money from
that, that’s why she has to work long hours.” The manager said: “I
want you to wash your mother’s hands this evening. Come back
tomorrow.”
The young man went home and at this evening, he was washing his
mother’s hands. When he poured water over her hands and started to
clean them, he could see by how many scars the hands were scarred. He
gently was cleaning her hands, but he could see how painful it was for
her because of the deep scars. The hard work throughout all those
years made her hands fragilely, being exposed constantly with water
and through wringing out the clothes her skin got rough and harsh. On
that evening, he decided to finish his mothers work and so he was
washing the rest of the clothes.
On the next day he went back to the manager. So he was asked if he did
what he was supposed to do and in case yes, what he had learned from
that experience. He said: “By washing the hands of my mother, I could
see how hard she was working and what burden she was carrying for me
in order to make a comprehensive education possible.” The manager
answered: “I wanted you to learn this important life lesson.” Right
after that, the job was given to this applicant.
received from:
Linda, Kenya
