People say things like “As loyal as a dog”, and dogs are very loyal indeed. I never was a dog person, guess a cat person best describes me, whatever that is. I never could get cats, they would always bite the hand that feeds them, never with dogs I hear. They even know when you are sick or are just not feeling well. They comfort you and stay by your side.
Now do me a favor and change the word Dog with anyones name. Don’t get offended, just do the exercise. That could be an acid test to see if someone is loyal? or could it? Well you see with us humans many factors come into play, like honesty, decency, broad vision, understanding ones emotions and conceptions, looking deeper than face value. People tend to stay loyal until hurt. And some continue to stay loyal till the day they part, those are the ones that actually break you when gone.
Loyalty is a great thing to know and practice. We stay loyal to our family by nature. We stay loyal to our school best friends by default. We stay loyal to loved ones wether they like it or not. We tend to be loyal to total strangers for no particular reasons, just because we feel like it, or they feel like being loyal to you? Loyalty crosses many barriers and brings down walls when a friend in need is a friend indeed kicks in.
We tend to simply drop everything and jump to the occasion for some people, and watch others sink beside us. Loyal people are one of the rarest human commodities out there. If they were traded on the stock market they would eventually end up priceless and be taken off the trading floor.
A young boy was sent to boarding school in England by his family and on the train he seemed to have lost his money that would carry him through the month. He was seated in front of a man who seemed to be in his late 20’s. he kept fiddling and checking his bags for the wallet while this 20 something man observed and smiled. The young boy started to get frustrated and worried, he began to look under the seats. It was the end of the world to him. He knew how his family had saved for his education and barely made it through the month’s. He sat wondering what he was going to do?
The young man who was reading a rather boring newspaper with no pictures or comics observed the young boy. He put down his newspaper and looked the boy in the eye with an inviting and comforting smile. The boy barely managed a movement of his mouth to acknowledge this weird person. You never should talk to strangers warned him mom.
“ You seem to have lost something of importance?” said the young man. “Yes, my wallet and all my money” “ That must be hard” replied the man. “ Well its all I have, and now its gone” “ So what are your plans now” “ maybe I will go to the head master and ask him to help me or call my family, I don’t know” “ How much may I ask was in the wallet?” “ five hundred pounds” replied the boy sadly.
The man leaves to the rest room and comes back, sits down, hands the boy an envelope. In it the boy finds five hundred pounds, a note with the mans name, telephone, and address for repayment. The boy is simply shocked, left in total disbelief, questioning his mothers orders on not talking to strangers? “I don’t know what to say, said the young boy” “ Don’t worry about it, I know you are going to be something one day, its in your eyes, and you will pay it back, i know you will” they both depart never to see each other again.
The days turn into months, month’s are nothing but a calendar thing, the years tend to fly at uncertain speeds, the boy grows older, graduates with honors, starts his first job, becomes the top of his game in no time, rides the corporate ladder like a super hero. He moves from Banking to Insurance, he then heads a corporation that handles many types of businesses, he moves out and is head hunted to run a development company in an old rural area being developed.
His first month on the job and his actions speak louder than words. he strikes terror in the competing companies by his quick and decisive management style and capabilities. His first major issue at the start of the next month is an area where the people that live there will not accept the offers and have refused to leave. He runs to the scene with his managers, asks his questions along the way, gets ready to practice his negotiation skills that never failed him on anyone before.
He is taken to the scene where an old man stands with his family in a very grumpy face, ready for a battle, eager to start and never end, he will stand his ground! “ why wont you leave sir? asks the young man?” “ get off my property” says the old man fiercely. The young boy looks at the old man as if he knows him or relates to him, he looks at the address and the area, he has never been here before? he wanders in his mind, can’t seem to remember anything in this respect.Suddenly it strikes him, the address!!
Two days ago he was moving out and noticed an old crumpled piece of paper, the same note he had from the man who saved his life 35 years ago on his way to school. Could it be him? his heart trembled? could it be fate? is this for real? why me? what does this mean?he asks him about his name, and pulls out the paper and to his surprise the names match… he asks the man if he could come in to have a glass of water, the man accepts, astonished at this behavior. He sits down and hands him teh piece of paper in front of his children and wife. The old man suddenly sits down and laughs at the strange powers of the universe. “ So you owe me” said the old man. “ Big Time!” replied the loyal young man.
The story goes on to conclude that the young man, bought this old man a property on the new development and lived next door to him. His loyalty to the man that actually was a reason for him being where he is today was not forgotten, ever.
You never know who is loyal and who is not. Once you find them, tie yourself around them, look after them, handle them with care, extreme care, delicate care, for they are the few that we can never do without.
We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.
G.K. CHESTERTON
mamdohh.alradadi
me@mamdoohalradadi.com
