Yesterday I had a phone conversation with a lady that has a college degree and has been in the corporate mortgage industry since before graduating high school. This lady had me laughing from the time our phone conversation started. She didn't know who I was. I simply said, good afternoon, this is J how are you today?
She answered great! I'm loving the weather today.
This lady and I carried on a conversation about how lovely the Cali weather is and how she was so looking forward to the summer months for almost 15 minutes. I fed off her humor and she fed off mine. We didn't know each other, but we were just laughing with each other and having a good ol time on the phone.
I was calling this lady because she had sent me a resume for employment, but our intro. conversation lasted so long she forgot that she didn't even know why I was calling. When she finally asked me, who I was and I was calling (politely), I told her that I was responding to a resume she sent me.
This woman began telling me about how she has worked in the corporate mortgage industry since the age of 16 and was now a little over 50. She was laid off 2 years ago in early07. She went from a high paying executive job down to nothing after the lay off. After that, her husband left her and she lost the 2 homes she had once owned. For 30 minutes she shared with me the pain she has endured, the loneliness she experienced, and the isolation from the industry she thought would keep her financially set until she retired. She told me that after the lay off and after the divorce she knew she had to survive. She equipped herself. She made her resume - she has never had to do this before, and she went to places begging for a job because she needed to eat, and she needed a place to sleep. She told me how she cried after going to Stater Bros one day and begging the manager for a job paying $8.50 an hour for 20 hours a week. She got the job, but felt humiliated with the credentials that she had. In the midst of all of this, this lady told me that if it was one thing positive that has come from this is that she has learned the meaning of humility. Now she works at a car rental place at the desk of an airport, and is renting a home. Although she lost her income and financial status, she takes a sense of pride in making people smile and laugh as they come in frustrated after a long flight. She doesn't focus on what she doesn't have - she focuses on what she can give. It isn't much ..... but it a smile and a little humor makes a world of difference.
This is real...and this happened just yesterday. There is so much to this story, yet I wanted to give you just a taste so that next time you decide to complain about your situation think about this lady, and think about what you can learn from the most negative and humiliating experiences in life. Most of all, lets learn to be self-less and learn to give, even if its just flashing a smile to someone who seems like they need it. We are in a recession folks. The best way to keep from being depressed is focus less on your self and focus on serving others.
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