Thank you, Mr. Mayor!
John Gocke
There is a story about Fiorello LaGuardia (the man they named the airport after) that shows us how a person can go beyond being merciful to being graceful. LaGuardia was the mayor of New York City during not only the Great Depression, but also the worst days of World War II. Many people in New York City were endeared to him because he was such a hands-on leader. It is said that he rode with the firemen as they rushed to fight fires and that he accompanied the police as they raided the nightclubs where alcohol and drugs were sold. He loved young people and took whole orphanages to ball games.
One night he showed up at a night court in one of the poorest wards of New York. LaGuardia gave the judge the night off and sat in for him. Soon a weary elderly woman was brought before him on charges that she had stolen a fifty-cent loaf of bread. “Your Honor,” she addressed LaGuardia. With quivering lips and tear-filled eyes, she admitted to the theft. But she added, “My daughters husband has deserted her, she is sick, and her children are crying because they have nothing to eat.”
Mayor LaGuardia paused. The office he swore to uphold required that he enforce the letter of the law, so he rose and said, “I have to punish you. The law makes no exception. The fine is ten dollars or ten days in jail.”
As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and pulled out ten dollars. “Here is the ten dollars for the fine,” he said. “And furthermore, I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.”
The following day, the newspaper reported that a total of $47.50 was turned over to the grandmother to help her. The red-faced bakery owner who had brought the charge against her gave fifty cents of that amount.
The mayor could have merely shown mercy and dismissed her fine and charges. Instead he delivered grace to the beaten woman and rescued her and her grandchildren.
Show a little Kindness and Mercy to everyone you meet. Both are far too rare these days!
Click here for more safety tidbits.
And a bonus quote from Marcel Proust:
Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Thanks for the share, WK!
