I think we all have stories to tell about feeling being treated unjustly or unfairly.
Today It brought to mind something that happened years ago when I worked in the License Division for the City of Cleveland. Perhaps others would consider what happened as trivial. But I didn't then, and still to this day I still smart with the remembrance of what I considered an injustice.
People who owned food carts were required to get a Peddler's License. I don't know why but one year the Director of our division decided that this should be done away with. The food peddlers were now being told that they could no longer get a peddler's license. Of course, that meant that unless they could find other places to use their food carts which didn't require a license, they were out of business.
As it was our License Division which dispensed both the Food Service and Peddler's Licenses, I felt bad for these mainly Greek peddlers. I was vegetarian at the time (vegan now), but I still felt for these people and their livelihood. What could they do instead?
So, I decided to plead their case with the Director of our division. I don't remember what I said, but somehow he understood that they needed to be licensed as this was their only way to earn a living. This caring man reversed himself and decided that they could again be licensed. I was so happy for them.
That day or the next- I was surprised to see a beautiful vase of red roses on the desk of my fellow employee. One peddler- out of gratitude bought them for her as she had been the one to write up his license when I was out for lunch. You would think that shewould have told him that the roses should have been for me, but no. In my opinion, this woman was bereft of integrity. .
That hurt, and I immediately realized that if she had been a person of integrity, she would have told the peddler that it was I who had been responsible for their getting the peddlers license now. Of course, she didn't, and sadly I will always remember her for this lack of integrity. Without a doubt = were the circumstances reversed, I would have let the peddler know who deserved the roses. All these years later, I can only think of her as a person of little integrity.
And now what prompted this reflection from so long ago? On the internet today I read a post entitled "2 sisters, a bully and the apology 60 years in the making that set them free."
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