Good Ol' Mark Twain

Posted in my "quote" section of this blog is Mark Twain's advice:  "Do the right thing.  It will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

I like that quote a lot because I feel like I am constantly hammering it into the kids' heads. 

"Do the right thing."
"How do you know it's the right thing?"
"You just do.  You feel it in your gut."
"What if my gut's wrong?"
"It's never wrong."
"What if it is?"
"You'll know if it's the right thing, I promise.  Just do the right thing."

Yesterday was my first time experiencing the dramas of a small office.  Actually, it's a huge office, with two different sides: my side is lovingly referred to as the "dark" side and the "money hungry" side; while the other side are the good guys.  Here is a snippet of two conversations I had yesterday.  First one, I knocked on the door of one guy I've known for eleven years, at three different jobs, and when he looked up I smiled.  He said, "Carrie!  So good to see you!  Why the hell did you take this job?"  The second was with a girl that looked like she was in physical pain as I sat by her in a meeting.  I leaned over and whispered, "Is it that bad?"  She said, "I'm searching for a way to shoot myself in the head without making a mess.  It's that bad."

Okay then.  Hmmm...

I'm about eight years away from the melodrama of office quirks, so I should be okay.  The last three years have taught me how to let go of things, little things, fairly well, so though I've heard rumors that the bosses make people cry on a weekly basis, I am of the opinion that if I am in the position where someone is trying to make me cry for showing up, working hard all day and getting things accomplished (because that is all I know to do at any job) then I'm out.  I'm gone.  It's not worth it. 

So, what am I going to do? I'm going to go to work, do way more than what is expected and always do the right thing - pleasing and astonishing others.

Paige had a bad day yesterday.  She said that one of her classmates, Nate (he looks like a mini-Derek Jeter) told her that he hated her, then he said he was sorry, but then he didn't talk to her all day.

"He's a boy, Paige.  They'll do that for the rest of your life."

She saw a work folder on the counter, sat down and started looking through it.  "You have to read all this stuff?"

"Yes."

"In one day?"

I just smiled and said, "It's my job, and you know what Paige? I'll read that, I'll learn it and I'll help people even though I am not required to even read it.  You know why?"

"Because you should always do more than what is expected."

"Exactly.  And that includes being kind to people even when they aren't so nice to you.  Like Nate.  He doesn't mean it when he says he hates you, and secretly he probably adores you because you're beautiful, and instead of getting upset, just shrug it off and be who you are - kind, compassionate, and giving.  He'll come around."

"That's because it's the right thing to do..."  I begin to nod and she says, "And because he wouldn't expect me to be nice after he is so mean!"

She's a genius.

I find it serendipitous that this Mark Twain quote is part of my blog today - it fits perfectly into my world.

Do the right thing:  please people and astonish people.   Thanks Mark.