This I Believe: Respect Goes A Long Way

The way people are brought up reflects greatly on how they will turn out. Not being able to understand or know what people been through gives no reason to disrespect somebody. I believe a little respect for everybody goes a long way. I once heard a story of a guy who had a tattoo of scissors cutting around his wrist. I asked what it was for and he told me it reminds him to always remember the little things in life and look at it in an optimistic way. Explaining what he said he gave me a couple examples as to what he had meant. The scissors around his wrist were to imagine if he no longer had a hand at all, how would he manage without one, how would that make him feel and realize how significant it is. It’s a symbol meaning anything in life at all, from having no hand to having no father or a rough childhood and how the people turn out from these flaws. Remember, what you say affects people no mater how minimal it was. Also your attitude and the mood you give off towards somebody, I believe having respect for little things like this, go a long way in life. The impact of this explanation will stick with me for the rest of my life and it’s made me open my eyes to a whole new perspective of how people should be treated.

I remember one day in 7th grade when I made the new kid at my school cry. I can’t express how awful that made me feel about knowing what I had done. It ate me up inside until finally I wrote him an apology note. I knew he didn’t come from a good family and didn’t have many friends to begin with so in my note I told him that he was one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met and he never deserved to be treated like that for no reason. When he read the note he thanked me so much for it and said it was the nicest thing anybody has ever done for him. I remembered how I had grown up, no matter what happened in my family I was always taught to show respect for everybody. I thought of how upset they would have been if they found out I’d done something like that. Showing respect for people and remembering the little things is what really matters.

Being respectful will get you noticed by people. If you give respect to people chances are you‘ll get some back. If you don’t, there is no need to retaliate. Being the bigger persons makes you a better well rounded human being. Having the ability to take things in and not express how you really feel is really important towards showing a sign of respect. When others notice how you act it shows. You’ll generally get respect back. One thing that comes to mind is homework for a certain class. If you show the teacher respect towards his or her work and do what is asked, things will go a lot smoother. Compare it to somebody who is very rude to the teacher to somebody who is nice, say that you got a bad grade on a test and needed to ask for some extra credit. What person would the teacher think about giving some extra credit towards? The person who pays attention and does what they are asked of course. Another thing to keep in mind is manners. I heard a “this I believe essay’’ on the impact of a, “hello” by Howard White how showing people attention for a second out of your time can make somebody have a better day, and impact their daily lives. A quick thank you after a favor Is done, a “have a nice night” after work or “how was your day” isn’t painful at all and can put a smile on somebody’s face that usually doesn’t get much attention.

I always think of the people behind all the display that don’t get any credit. Like the dishwashers in restaurants and the cooks making the food, the janitors in a school fixing and cleaning up everything. These people need just as much respect as the people they work with. They need just as much respect as you. Always keep in mind that everybody has feelings and enjoys being treated nice. I like to see the smiles on the peoples face after I simply say “thank you” and give somebody my attention. I’m a server at a restaurant and it makes such a big difference in my confidence level when I walk up to a table that is already smiling and accept conversation while I take they’re orders.

Six months ago I never had a job with people I didn’t already know I did farm work every once in a while, babysat, and cleaned houses, but I never work for any business before. When I started my job bussing tables I quickly realized just how much work it was for the least amount of money. I didn’t mind at all but I just made me laugh at the fact the people who the most work get the least amount of respect. I was also surprised when I did what I was told by the people I worked with and had a positive attitude and work hard I was noticed and asked to be moved up to a server. I now realize how much people work to serve certain needs. Now when I got out to restaurants ill always remember to tell the server thank you and leave a couple extra dollars to the tip. Six months ago I didn’t realize this, growing up now, moving out I realize just how much people give to the world without the respect they deserve. Even though I’d always show respect to my teacher and classmates, growing up opened my eyes as to how a simple a few words can really mean.