Ah, hind-sight
It was my turn to cook breakfast this cold, rainy morning, and as I stood half-awake by the stove stirring the pot of oatmeal it occurred to me that not everybody can prepare a decent bowl of oatmeal. (Shock!) I remember clearly the person who taught me how to prepare it—in fact she taught me almost anything one would need to know to run a kitchen. She is a Spanish woman, probably in her 50’s by now, she has a son my age… and in all honesty I didn’t really like her. I always thought she was too tough on me, constantly keeping up with what I was doing and making sure I didn’t dawdle when it wasn’t dawdling time. Until this morning she was always just one of those unpleasant people that had crossed my path at some point or another.
But as I stood there staring into the boiling mush of milky whiteness I realized that I actually owed her oh-so-much! A lot of who I am and what I can do—things I take totally for granted—are possible only because she had enough interest in me to train me. She taught me a lot about time management, money management, responsibility… She stopped me dead in my tracks and turned my perspectives around when she said: “Your job is never more important than the people you’re doing the job for.”
And so I just realized this morning that for years I’ve had a grudge that made no sense.
Ok, let’s see… who else am I mad at?