Treating others right

In General Colin Powell’s fascinating book, “It Worked for Me,” the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff shared lessons he had learned about life and leadership. Powell told of a time he was the featured speaker at a Boston luncheon for 2,000. Each person attending needed one ticket to get into the event and a second to prove they had paid for the meal. The person in charge seated Powell at the head table. When their waitress arrived, she asked for each person’s meal ticket and then placed salads before them, however, Powell had not received the second ticket and was not given a salad.

When the man in charge realized their featured speaker was not being served, he confronted their waitress saying, “Young lady, this is General Powell, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, our honored guest and keynote speaker.” The waitress replied, “He ain’t got no ticket huh?”

Finally, a ticket was found, and Powell received his meal. Far from offended, the general said, “I love when people do their job.”

At some point, each of us has been guilty of showing favoritism. We may have been kind to someone we thought could help us or impatient with someone who could not. The waitress in Powell’s story should have used common sense and realized the evening’s featured speaker would have a meal provided.

No one should determine how they will treat others based on someone’s position, prestige, or lack thereof. The Apostle James made this point when he wrote, “Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.” (James 2:8-9, NLT)

Powell likely responded so positively to the waitress because, as a military commander and leader of thousands, he had supervised many who did not take their jobs seriously. James made the same point from a slightly different perspective by saying we are not to favor those who can help us while treating those who cannot as if they have little worth.

Interestingly, the Apostle began his statement about not favoring people by reminding his readers of the golden rule, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” No one wants to be treated poorly because of who they are or what they have. Being fair and impartial with others helps us realize other’s worth is not determined by their income or experiences. Let us commit to never treating others in a way we do not want to be treated ourselves.