Little things
Little things
- page 55
The Rotary Balita no. 771 (May 12, 1955).
"The example of little things is infectious. Often they set in motion curious reactions. One such instance is the story of an American maker of locomotives. He was about to close a large contract with a foreign government. He had stopped over in London before proceeding on to his destination. He was not too happy about the negotiations since it had been decided, at the insistence of the customer, to substitute an inferior grade of steel in order to keep the cost down to a minimum. It seemed the only way in which his firm could secure the contract. "Leaving his London hotel one morning, he noticed in a shop window some material that he thought would make an attractive sports suit. After he had purchased the goods, a London friend. gave him the name of a tailor. The American was impressed by the establishment. He was even more impressed when he met the proprietor. "But when the tailor had taken one look at the cloth, to the amazement of the American, he refused to make the suit. He would not put his label on a suit of cloth made of shoddy material. Neither did he respond to the suggestion that since the cloth had already been purchased, the label could be left off in this instance. A tailor could not continue to retain the respect of his employees if he expended their honest labor on dishonest material. "With the bolt of cloth under his arm, the maker of locomotives left the tailor's shop, not angry, but thoughtful. The name plate on a locomotive, or the label on a suit of clothes, earned respect by the quality of honest labor and honest materials. Unwittingly, the tailor had set him on the right course, as certainly as if he had picked him up physically from one path and set him down upon another." - From Service Is My Business, published by Rotary International.
The Rotary Balita no. 771 (May 12, 1955).
"The example of little things is infectious. Often they set in motion curious reactions. One such instance is the story of an American maker of locomotives. He was about to close a large contract with a foreign government. He had stopped over in London before proceeding on to his destination. He was not too happy about the negotiations since it had been decided, at the insistence of the customer, to substitute an inferior grade of steel in order to keep the cost down to a minimum. It seemed the only way in which his firm could secure the contract. "Leaving his London hotel one morning, he noticed in a shop window some material that he thought would make an attractive sports suit. After he had purchased the goods, a London friend. gave him the name of a tailor. The American was impressed by the establishment. He was even more impressed when he met the proprietor. "But when the tailor had taken one look at the cloth, to the amazement of the American, he refused to make the suit. He would not put his label on a suit of cloth made of shoddy material. Neither did he respond to the suggestion that since the cloth had already been purchased, the label could be left off in this instance. A tailor could not continue to retain the respect of his employees if he expended their honest labor on dishonest material. "With the bolt of cloth under his arm, the maker of locomotives left the tailor's shop, not angry, but thoughtful. The name plate on a locomotive, or the label on a suit of clothes, earned respect by the quality of honest labor and honest materials. Unwittingly, the tailor had set him on the right course, as certainly as if he had picked him up physically from one path and set him down upon another." - From Service Is My Business, published by Rotary International.