This morning I walked over to talk to my next-door neighbor; I decided to make a point.
For the past few months their trash bins, have not been rolled back to their garage. We both share the driveway entrance to each garage. Every week, I have rolled down their trash bins to their garage door. The first, and second week it did not bother me but after a while I felt that I was being taken for a ride. I could see the housekeeper parking her car on the street twice a week next to the containers and she would not move them; she did not care, she knew that somebody would take care of it.
This morning, I decided to make a statement, I was pumped up.
After knocking on their door an older Latino lady opened the door, a fragile lady. “Hello, how can I help you?”
“Hello, I am your next door neighbor and would like to talk to you about your garbage containers…”
Before I could keep going with my speech she interrupted me…
“I know, I know… I have not taken the containers in because it was too icy and I am scared to slip and hurt my self. Now that the snow has melted I will take care of them”
She paused for a second and continued with a warm smile. “Also, I was wondering, who is this angel that has been putting back the bins all these weeks.”
“Well,” I told to her, “I am your angel... Anyway don’t worry, thank you.”
I extended my arm and said “My name is Mauricio what is your name?”
She softly grab my hand and looked into my eyes and said “Jeanette.”
Jeanette I thought, and said to her “Jeanette, It was a pleasure meeting you, have a great day.”
Before walking back home she said, one more thing with a sparkle in her eyes “today I have to leave early and I won’t be able to take care of them… sorry”
“Don’t worry,” I said “I will take care of them, it will be my pleasure”
While walking back, I realized that I did not accomplish anything, but I was feeling great!
Here is the thought:
This morning before walking next door, I had already created a story in my head. I presumed that they did not care about the situation. In my head, I was already mad and annoyed. Based on these negative emotions I created a negative image of Jeanette.
After meeting Jeanette, I realized that all my beliefs were completly wrong. She is an older lady that was really concerned about her well being, and my little act of “kindness” was making a big impact on her; she was extremely grateful.
At the end, you never know who is serving whom. A few months ago my mother passed away and her name is Jeanette, so today it felt appropriate, it felt splendid to know that I was able to help this pleasant lady.
"To assume is to conclude without the facts. It is to create imaginary plots while building barriers in your mind. To assume is to presume, guilty as charged!"- Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld
For the past few months their trash bins, have not been rolled back to their garage. We both share the driveway entrance to each garage. Every week, I have rolled down their trash bins to their garage door. The first, and second week it did not bother me but after a while I felt that I was being taken for a ride. I could see the housekeeper parking her car on the street twice a week next to the containers and she would not move them; she did not care, she knew that somebody would take care of it.
This morning, I decided to make a statement, I was pumped up.
After knocking on their door an older Latino lady opened the door, a fragile lady. “Hello, how can I help you?”
“Hello, I am your next door neighbor and would like to talk to you about your garbage containers…”
Before I could keep going with my speech she interrupted me…
“I know, I know… I have not taken the containers in because it was too icy and I am scared to slip and hurt my self. Now that the snow has melted I will take care of them”
She paused for a second and continued with a warm smile. “Also, I was wondering, who is this angel that has been putting back the bins all these weeks.”
“Well,” I told to her, “I am your angel... Anyway don’t worry, thank you.”
I extended my arm and said “My name is Mauricio what is your name?”
She softly grab my hand and looked into my eyes and said “Jeanette.”
Jeanette I thought, and said to her “Jeanette, It was a pleasure meeting you, have a great day.”
Before walking back home she said, one more thing with a sparkle in her eyes “today I have to leave early and I won’t be able to take care of them… sorry”
“Don’t worry,” I said “I will take care of them, it will be my pleasure”
While walking back, I realized that I did not accomplish anything, but I was feeling great!
Here is the thought:
This morning before walking next door, I had already created a story in my head. I presumed that they did not care about the situation. In my head, I was already mad and annoyed. Based on these negative emotions I created a negative image of Jeanette.
After meeting Jeanette, I realized that all my beliefs were completly wrong. She is an older lady that was really concerned about her well being, and my little act of “kindness” was making a big impact on her; she was extremely grateful.
At the end, you never know who is serving whom. A few months ago my mother passed away and her name is Jeanette, so today it felt appropriate, it felt splendid to know that I was able to help this pleasant lady.
"To assume is to conclude without the facts. It is to create imaginary plots while building barriers in your mind. To assume is to presume, guilty as charged!"- Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld
