the lobby of a small hotel in Philadelphia. Trying to get out of the
rain, the couple approached the front desk hoping to get some shelter
for the night.
"Could you possibly give us a room here?" the husband asked. The
clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile, looked at the couple and
explained that there were three conventions in town.
"All of our rooms are taken," the clerk said. "But I can't send a nice
couple like you out into the rain at one o'clock in the morning. Would
you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It's not exactly a suite,
but it will be good enough to make you folks comfortable for the
night."
When the couple declined, the young man pressed on. "Don't worry about
me. I'll be just fine here in the office, " the clerk told them. So
the couple agreed.
As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the
clerk, "You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best
hotel in the United States. Maybe, someday I'll build one for you."
The clerk looked at them and smiled. The three of them had a good laugh.
As they drove away, the elderly couple agreed that the helpful clerk
was indeed exceptional, as finding people who are both friendly and
helpful isn't easy.
Years passed. The clerk had almost forgotten the incident when he
received a letter from the old man. It recalled that stormy night and
enclosed a round-trip ticket to New York, asking him to pay them a
visit.
The old man met him in New York, and led him to the corner of Fifth
Avenue and 34th Street. He then pointed to a great new building there,
a palace of reddish stone, with turrets and watchtowers thrusting up
to the sky.
"That," said the older man, "is the hotel I have just built for you to manage."
"You must be joking," the young man said.
"I can assure you I am not," said the older man, a sly smile playing
around his mouth.
The older man's name was William Waldorf Astor,and the magnificent
structure was the original Waldorf Hotel.
The clerk who became its first manager was George C. Boldt.
This young clerk never foresaw the turn of events that would lead him
to become the manager of one of the world's most glamorous hotels.
Moral : "Do not turn back those who are in need, for they might be angels".
Life is measured by the lives you touch and not by the things you acquire.
