Disclaimer: This story took place over 30 years ago when segregation was much more prevalent. These details are critical to the point of the story, so please don’t be offended. I am NOT a racist person.
I remember as a young child sitting in the hot car with my family while Mom ran into the hospital to visit a young black girl with a newborn baby from her vocational tech class. I was very annoyed as we were on the way to my grandmother’s house, and, I didn’t understand why Mom felt compelled to do something for somebody she would probably never see again.
A few years later, Mom started running an insurance debit route. This was obviously a long time ago when agents collected insurance premiums every week and submitted payments to the home office on the policyholder’s behalf. The district manager was taking Mom around and introducing her to her new clients on the route assigned to her. And, of course, her route included a neighborhood where white people stood out like a sore thumb. Because we lived in a dry county, it was bootleggers’ haven.
One place we visited was a black bar in the heart of a black neighborhood where white folks were not welcome. Segregation was still prevalent although laws had been passed to stop it. Mom said the bar was filled with all types of women in provocative and scanty attire, and she was very anxious about walking into the bar. We never drank anything stronger than iced tea, which was another reason Mom was uncomfortable.
When the bar owner heard my mother’s name, she jumped over the bar and landed right in front of my mother. Mom did not know what to expect. The bar owner asked, “Are you that white woman that brought my grandbaby a gift to the hospital?”
Mom replied, “If your daughter is Jane, (not her real name), then yes, I did. I didn’t know that was your daughter. She was in my vo-tech class.”
The bar owner thanked my mom for her kindness and put the word out that nobody was to mess with my mother. If they did, they would answer to the bar owner.
This was my first major lesson in why relationships matter. We never know when an act of kindness will come back to us.
Another situation happened to me as a young adult. I was working for a manufacturing company in the traffic department. Because of the daily conversations I had with various transportation vendors, I often heard inside information through daily conversations. One day, my contact shared that they were anticipating an upcoming strike that would negatively impact our shipping habits. I shared this information with my manager, and we diverted half of our shipments even though there was no other indication of the strike. Sure enough, the carrier went on strike. And, my company saved significantly as a result of the relationship I had with another peer on the vendor’s side of the business.
Again proving that relationships matter.
What kind of relationships do you have with others?