Day 260: Respect

There's nothing but other people in this world, other than ourselves. We surround each other daily, monthly, yearly, and... forever... The only thing that makes us happy is people. Anything that makes us happy in this world has to do with another person, another soul. Yet, still, we find it hard to respect each other sometimes.

I walked into a Downtown fabric store today. A young, sweaty, Hispanic guy was helping me out while an older, chubby, white-haired, Middle Eastern man, named Romeo, listened and watched. At one point, Romeo asked me a couple of questions, in broken English, trying to help me find what I wanted. Right then, the Hispanic guy looked furious and he started to say, "Ok, Romeo, I got it... I got it, Romeo... Romeeeooooo, I got it!" I was confused at that point as I stared at both men. Romeo just shrugged his shoulders and glanced over at me as though he couldn't understand. I asked another question to keep the tension from growing, but it made it worse. As Romeo began answering, the Hispanic guy walked away and said out loud, "Ok, you take it Romeo, you take it, all of it!" I tried to keep from getting involved so I asked Romeo to help me with what I needed. He got me what I needed and while he was bagging things up for me, I walked over to the Hispanic guy and asked, "Is he the owner? Why are you so mad?" He wiped his sweat off his forehead and said, "Ya, he the owner. No, no owner. His son owner. He just take care of this place, pero I don like when he cut me. I tell him all time to not cut me. I say, 'Romeo I know you not know English, pero say two easy words, say, I got it!, and I leave you alone, you know. Then, is yours. I don like him to cut me, fsst like that!" as he made a hand gesture. I was surprised at the fact that he was an employee setting his own rules and this man, this older man, was being calm and brushing off this idiot of an employee. At that point, I didn't have much to say to that guy, so, I just nodded and walked away.

As Romeo helped me to my car, with my fabrics, I thanked him and told him I'd go back if I needed anything more. His patience and respect towards such cruel behavior was astonishing to me.

Tip of the Day: There are so many people that are mistreated daily, in the workplace, at home, etc. When you witness such an event, and it's not your place to intervene, just make sure you give the credit to the right person.