I was famished and it was getting late in the afternoon so I decided to head to my local Subway for lunch. I walked in and greeted the familiar crew of young college age guys who work the day shift. Today was slightly different as there was a new guy who had joined the shift, he was very young and seemed like a nice guy. He threw his plastic gloves on and quickly uttered his newly learned cadence stuttering as he went. I ordered the usual and moved down the line thanking him for his quickness and made him feel as comfortable as any person could on their first day. He quickly moved to the woman behind me who had just arrived in a flurry with a page long order for what seemed like an entire office or the kids who lived in her shoe.

She wore a expensive business suit and answered her cell phone literally a half dozen times in the short time she was there. The newbie Subway recruit did his best to accommodate her, but despite his best efforts she torn into him like a newborn wildebeest being chased by a lioness. She started off correcting him and then progressed to insulting him. In just a few minutes she was sighing, attacking and generally being a real pain in the....well you know. I was watching her is disbelief while she continued to show her frustration with this poor guy. He did the best he could, but was clearly in shock from what he had to endure. He looked like a deer in the headlights and in spite of me knowing nothing about him I felt really bad for what he had to endure.

My life is often consumed with closings, applications, clients calls, and in between. But for just a moment I was completely stuck on what this kid who was making $6.25 an hour and what he was going through.

I still remember when I was his age and I had started my first job. I was a file clerk for a national law firm who was charged with the duty of putting 20,000 pieces of paper in their respective files. It was a menial task, but to me it was the start of something big. It was the start of my adulthood and I wanted to be respected for it even though it wasn't much. I remember being proud to tell people about the fact that I was making my own money and I had bought my first car. It is hard to believe that all those years ago I was so proud of such a menial job. But was there anything really wrong with being proud of my small beginnings? I believe there is a better question, do people like the newbie at Subway deserve to be treated that way simply because of where they work or how much money they make?

To best answer that question is to ask a question. What if that was you? What if you were the one who was forced to trade roles and you had to deal with people disrespecting you all day long and still wear a smile? Sure we get that to an extent in our own lines of business, but it is so much different for an entry level sub maker. I would challenge each and every one of you to today make a conscious decision to treat those around you as you would want to be treated. I think sometimes we forget that there was a day when we were the ones who were starting off in the wide world of adulthood. Don't ever forget where you came from and remember that those around you are always looking up to you.

Just before I left I gave that young man a $20 bill and told him to shrug it off and that he did a great job. He looked at me like I was handing him his Red Ryder BB Gun on Christmas and shook my hand. It wasn't much but I knew he would remember that for a long time to come, and it reminded me of when I first started my career as an adult.

Never forget to treat those around you as you would want to be treated and you will see the same future grow within them that you now live.