On his first day in office, as President “Abraham Lincoln” entered the
Senate to give his inaugural address,
One man stood up. He was a rich aristocrat.
He said, “Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make
shoes for my family.”
And the whole Senate laughed; they thought they had made a fool of
“Lincoln”.
…BUT….
Certain people are made of a totally different mettle.
“Lincoln” looked at the man directly in the eye and said,
“Sir, I know that my Father used to make shoes for your family, and there
will be many others here,
Because he made shoes the way nobody else can.
He was a creator. His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole
soul into them.
I want to ask you, have you any complaint?
Because I know how to make shoes myself.
If you have any complaint I can make you another pair of shoes.
But as far as I know, nobody has ever complained about my father’s shoes.
He was a genius, a great creator and I am proud of my Father”.
The whole Senate was struck dumb.
They could not understand what kindof man “Abraham Lincoln” was.
He was proud because his Father did his job so well that not even a single
complaint had ever been heard.
…..Remember…..
“No one can hurt you without your consent.
It is not what happens to us that hurts us.
It is our response that hurts us”
Best sermons are lived;not preached
A shoe-maker in America is not the same as a “Mochee” in Pakistani culture.
There has been lot more dignity in menial work in USA compared to the
feudals-dominated snobbish cultures of the South East Asia. Even among the
Arabs, a dirt-poor illiterate beduin shephard has no hesitation in walking
right into Majlis of his tribal chief and sit beside him to share a meal if
it is a meal time. The taunt of the arrogant US aristocrat was a display of
the rich man’s own shallowness of character. Even in more recent history,
Bill Clinton grew up in his sub-teen and teen years on welfare and food
stamps; Reagan used to pump gas at gas stations during the summer vacations
to earn a pocket money. There is no dearth of foul-mouthed arrogant SOBs in
any culture and in any time frame.
With due respect and having agreed with him that Mochee in subcontinent or Southeast Asia is not considered to be a honored or dignified person,I would say imagine if he were black, you know the scenario,every society evolves in centuries,the rights,you and I am enjoying today were not there at time,even today certain segments of society still fighting for their rights,our Mochee could have risen to the corridors of power if the educated elite class didn’t leave them behind for their personal better life,the countries millions of Rupee to educate people like us but when the time comes we can give back to our society and contribute our expertise to bring about the change in our neighborhood,we were pulled out again by the nation who needed us most and we accepted to live personal lavish life than make better life of the child of that Mochee. So don’t blame the feudals we let it happened.
Yes this country developed the system and sticked to it and that process created chances for the poor ordinary individual to come forward to lead the city,town state and the country.it is another debate who let them allow to compete?