Brad Meltzer reminded me of a story I don't think told you yet.[1]
He was working at a mall at an ice cream counter when a woman stormed to the front of the line and demanded to be served immediately. Brad stood his ground, told her she was being rude and refused to serve her. She glared at him and said, "You're gonna be here for the rest of your life." And his comeback was, but I'm still never gonna serve you. He laughed, but it hurt nonetheless.
That reminded me when I was a high school student and worked part-time in Hills Supermarket. I was a stocker for the cereal aisle. I remember was a cantankerous man who worked there who at one point said to me in angry or annoyed voice that I didn't understand, you'll never amount to anything. And I remember that made my heart sink. But it made me even more determined that I was gonna become something and I did. And I never worked at Hills again.
The flip side was the assistant manager, who when I got accepted early decision to a college, came to me in my aisle to shake my hand and congratulate me. I remember how good that felt. It was like Mrs. Mandrakia in 12th Grade English saying to me, you know that you can become anything you want to be!
What we tell the people at our companies, especially the new recruits, matters. To use Brad Meltzer's words, it gives us lift. And that is the opposite of sinking.
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GPT-4 version:
Brad Meltzer reminded me of a story I don’t think I’ve told you yet.
He was working at a mall ice cream counter when a woman stormed to the front and demanded to be served immediately. Brad stood his ground, told her she was being rude, and refused. She glared at him and said, “You’re gonna be here for the rest of your life.” His comeback? “Maybe. But I’m still never gonna serve you.”
He laughed in the telling—but it hurt nonetheless.
That reminded me of my own high school job at Hills Supermarket, where I stocked shelves in the cereal aisle. One day, a cantankerous man who worked there looked at me and said—maybe out of irritation, maybe something deeper—“You’ll never amount to anything.”
My heart sank. But only for a moment. It made me more determined. I was going to become something. And I did. And I never worked at Hills again.
But I also remember the opposite kind of moment.
When I was accepted early decision to college, the assistant manager walked down my aisle to shake my hand and congratulate me. That stayed with me.
It reminded me of what Mrs. Mandrakia, my 12th-grade English teacher, once told me: “You know, you can become anything you want to be.”
(See LTYM #4 — “You can be anything you want to be”)
What we say to the people in our organizations—especially the young, the new, or the unsure—can either sink them or give them lift. To borrow Meltzer’s words: choose to give lift. It lasts. |