Thread: THE GINGHAM DRESS (nice story)

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THE GINGHAM DRESS

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston and walked timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge . 'We'd like to see the president,' the man said softly. 'He'll be busy all day,' the secretary snapped. 'We'll wait,' the lady replied. For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't, and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted. 'Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave,' she said to him! He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, and he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office. The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, 'We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.' The president wasn't touched. He was shocked. 'Madam,' he said, gruffly, 'We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.' 'Oh, no,' the lady explained quickly. 'We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.' The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, 'A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.' For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, 'Is that all it cost to start a university? Why don't we just start our own? ' Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about. You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them.

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A TRUE STORY by Malcolm Forbes 'People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did.' 'But people will never forget how you made them feel.

Richard

great story .. after i read a bit i rememberd seeing it before .. thanks .. i needed that .. humanity has not been kind to me lately ..

Great story. I've met some very wealthy people in my life, some of them with a little dirt under their fingernails. Those are the ones I liked the best.

Don

My wife sent that from where she works, and I thought it would be nice to post it here.

Richard

You know Richard, I've always said it would be cool to have a billion dollars and go into a Ferrari dealership dressed like you didn't have two nickles to rub together and see how they treated you before you paid cash for a new car.

Got a taste of that years ago. We sold our house in Pennsylvania and made a nice profit, moved to Winston-Salem NC. My wife and I decided to buy all new furniture when we got to NC because that is where all the stuff is made and we figured we could save some money. After we got settled in the new house we were a little dirty from unpacking one day and decided to go shopping for the new pieces we needed. I put a wad of cash in the pocket of my cutoffs and the four of us went shopping.

Our kids were about 6 then, and the four of us probably looked like we were just out dreaming about stuff we couldn't afford to buy. The salesman who greeted us gave us a half hearted " and what can I do for you folks today?" and the insincere look on his face told me he thought we were just window shopping. We shopped around for a while and Mr Supersalesman kinda hung out nearby, but really didn't give much help.

Finally, my Wife and I decided we liked a living room outfit, a formal dining room outfit, furniture for the family room, a kitchen table and chairs, some lamps, etc. When we told him we had made up our mind and wanted those items he said in a very bored tone "and just how will you be paying for those items today?" That was when I reached into my pocket and pulled out a wad of cash that would choke a horse. "In cash" I said. At that point his eyes lit up and he suddenly became our best friend. He called the warehouse and said "we have some FINE FOLKS out here, get off your lazy butts and load a truck and follow them to their house.

On the way home my Wife said " Boy, his tone sure changed, didn't it!" Bottom line, you NEVER know who you are dealing with in life, so don't judge a book by it's cover.

Don

from the net:

"For what it is worth, there was a book written by the then Harvard president's son that may have started the twist on actual events. Leland Stanford Junior was just short of his 16th birthday when he died of typhoid fever in Florence, Italy on March 13, 1884. He had not spent a year at Harvard before his death, nor was he "accidentally killed." Following Leland Junior's death, the Stanfords determined to found an institution in his name that would serve the "children of California." Detained on the East Coast following their return from Europe, the Stanfords visited a number of universities and consulted with the presidents of each. The account of their visit with Charles W. Eliot at Harvard is actually recounted by Eliot himself in a letter sent to David Starr Jordan (Stanford's first president) in 1919. At the point the Stanfords met with Eliot, they apparently had not yet decided about whether to establish a university, a technical school or a museum. Eliot recommended a university and told them the endowment should be $5 million. Accepted accounts indicate that Jane and Leland looked at each other and agreed they could manage that amount. The thought of Leland and Jane, by this time quite wealthy, arriving at Harvard in a faded gingham dress and homespun threadbare suit is quite entertaining. And, as a former governor of California and well-known railroad baron, they likely were not knowingly kept waiting for too long outside Eliot's office. The Stanfords also visited Cornell, MIT and Johns Hopkins. The Stanfords established two institutions in Leland Junior's name -- the University and the Museum, which was originally planned for San Francisco, but moved to adjoin the university."

Nice story though

Don, when I worked in the steel mills I would come home dirty; one time we were going for a new car straight from work. No one would approach us. There was a 71 El Camino on the floor; bronze with a cream top, and tan interior. The salesman that was on the floor would have got our deal but he just looked at us when we walk in. I kept waiting for someone to talk to us but the guy did my wife, and I like the guy did you, and your wife at the time. I went to a salesman that was seated, and said we want to buy the El Camino.

Richard

I was hoping that was a true story; it came from the Ministry center where my wife works. It sure made a good point though.

Richard

Richard it was a great story real or not. We shouldnever judge people by appearance or odd brhavior. You just never know who anyone is, until you give them a chance to let you know them. As a nurse I have tried to always practice unconditional positive reguard. It is hard sometimes!

Steve, sometimes, I think we just like to here a good story; even if down deep inside we could reason it away as being inaccurate; but still who doesn’t like a good story where the underdog wins, or gets the accolades.

Richard

Years ago, I went through a divorce and had to add a day job to my full time night shift . I worked at a department store as a carpet salesman and was told to avoid an elderly couple that came in every day to browse but never bought anything. I found these people to be fascinating and looked forward to their daily visit. My co-worker (an old bat), interupted our conversation one day and I could tell that she hurt their feelings. A short time later, the couple asked me to come to their home to measure "some rooms" for new carpet. My co-worker was pissed that I waisted my time with "those people" until they purchased carpet for their entire house! I made a commision from the sale that was handsome and I had to laugh that whenever the couple came back in how my co-worker was so sickening sweet to them, and the couple told her to get bent!

rusty29a, kindness is always rewarded one or another. Nice story.

Richard

I used to work in the Keys at a place called Newfound Harbor Marine Institute.
My second year there we got a new manager. He told the same story every year. If anyone walked on the property and asked about what we did they were to be given a tour. He used to work at a kids camp in Minnisoda where a old dejenorate looking guy in a unwashed outfit came to the property and asked what they did there. He treated the guy like everyone else and toured him around the property. When he was done the guy pealed out his check book, said they were doing great work, and gave him a check donation of 25K.
This is a true story. Funny thing is my friends Dad came to visit us in the Keys. He was getting the property tour from Chuck who told us the above story. His name was Ed. So Ed says to Chuck how much do you think they want for it? Chuck is looking at an old sailboat that had been donated to the facility, says "What the boat?" Ed says, no this place! I think Chuck lost his voice for a minute. Ed gave them a nice check too, and just laughed. He had started life as a truck driver, and came up with the idea of leasing equipment to hospitals. When he retired he was worth millions. But he never forgot his roots, and walked thru life fairly humble, though he was good for a laugh!

Great story Steve. I may have told this before but with loss of memory I'll tell it again. About 12 or 13 years ago my wife, and I had just eaten lunch and while walking back to the car I saw this old guy pushing a wooden cart full of cardboard, and papers. He was dressed poorly, and had a real short cigar in his mouth. I thought I would do something good; I held out a $20 bill for him; he said no thanks. I said I want you to have it. The guy said if you want to do something give it to the church. I was shocked, and felt bad at the same time for fear that I may have embarrassed him.

Richard