THE GINGHAM DRESS

 

This is an example of how some of us pre-judge people. If we don't take time to hear what someone has to say, we may never learn what is in their heart; regardless of their outer appearance, THE GINGHAM DRESS  A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun  threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston and walked timidly  without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer  office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods,  country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve  to be in Cambridge .  "We'd like to see the president," the man said softly.  "He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped.  "We'll wait," the lady replied.  For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would  finally become discouraged and go away.  They didn't, and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to  disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.  "Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave," she said to  him.  He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance  obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, and he detested  gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office. The  president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.  The lady told him, "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He  loved Harvard. He was happy here. But, about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to  him, somewhere on campus."  The president wasn't touched. He was shocked.  "Madam," he said, gruffly, "We can't put up a statue for every person  who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a  cemetery."  "Oh, no," the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue.  We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard." The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and  homespun suit and then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea  how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars  in the physical buildings here at Harvard."  For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he  could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said  quietly, "Is that all it cost to start a university? Why don't we just  start our own?"  Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and  bewilderment.  Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo  Alto, California where they established the university that bears their  name, Stanford University , a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer  cared about.  You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those  who they think can do nothing for them.  ---- A TRUE STORY by Malcolm Forbes "People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did.  But people will never forget how you made them feel."