I want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony…

In the course of our lives, we will meet about a million of the 6.7 trillion people in the world (US Census Bureau). And that’s my humble approximation. Let me clear that this does not mean that you’ll have a million friends. "Meet" might signify a casual conversation, a smile to a stranger, a one-sentence conversation with someone (yes, including when you order at your favorite fastfood chain or ask for directions from a stranger), or that person in your school/office you know by face (or by name) but never got to know personally. My question is, how do we go about treating those one million people that we meet? Do we treat the "big people" with respect but look down on the "small people"? Do we tend to smile only to those who look successful? Do we ignore someone who looks like an addict or prisoner? Is there a difference in the way we treat the rich and the poor? I certainly hope that you answered no to all questions. I’m sure that we, as some point in our lives, have been made to feel (intentionally or unintentionally) smaller than other people are. And I bet it did not feel good.

I love the story below because I feel that it perfectly illustrates how we should treat other people.

A Most Important Lesson

by: Author Unknown, Source Unknown

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely, this was some kind of joke.

I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.

Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. “Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say ‘hello.’” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

I know we should not treat the story literally, as in we have to know everybody’s name, but the message for me is clear: Treat each person with respect, if not nicely, whatever his/her gender, age, nationality, financial status (most especially), disposition in life, educational attainment, etc. Each person is a creation of God and has a significance (be it big or small or minute)  in our lives, and it’s time we treat everybody well.