High Roaders

If rudeness is ever declared an art form, he’ll most definitely be its Leonard Da Vinci. On good days his disrespect of others is covert.  It’s still there, but you have to look for it.  On not-so-good days, it’s up close, in-you-face, and offensive. 

For decades he got away with it.  Confronting or coming back at him only aggravated his offensiveness. His attitude about life was based on his the-world’s-out-to-get-me mentality.  His every relationship was transactional—how could he get the most while giving the least. 

He was also the cheapest guy in town. To him, money was power. Local lure still holds that following a Halloween prank, when some kids toilet-papered his house, he rolled it back up and used it!  As he got older, he amassed a sizeable savings. Instead of using it for any good, he used it as a cudgel to intimidate, bully, and take pure advantage of any situation he could.  As a result, this man who lived on the verge of social and interpersonal bankruptcy, was able use his money to offensively care only for number one—himself!

Almost with a religious zeal, he lives like a hermit. That is until he thinks someone has mistreated him or, as he likes to say, “gyps” him. His limited interactions are driven solely by what he needs or wants.  He has neither the time nor the inclination to do much of anything else. Accordingly, neighbors and co-workers have pretty much leave him alone.

Following a recent trip to a farm market, his the-world’s-out-to-get-me alarm went off.  Two of the six ears of corn that he had bought were not picture perfect.  Frustrated and angry, he headed back to the market. The lady he’d bought them from was going to get an ear full. (No pun intended!) The minute he saw her he started in.

“Your corn is lousy. When I pay good money, I want good corn.” He dropped the two ears he didn’t like on the counter. He then demanded another half dozen at no change, since he had to walk back down to her market. 

She told him to go to the bin and shuck another half dozen. She invited him to make sure they were want he wanted.  He did, then angrily stomped off without as much as a nod of thanks. She smiled, chuckled to herself, and went on about her day.  

A few hours later, while she was closing for the day, she found a wallet, amongst the remaining ears of sweet corn. She recognized it as the one the guy with the two imperfect ears of corn was carrying.  She looked inside to get his name and address from his driver’s license.  He lives just a few blocks from the seasonal farm stand she operates near the elementary school. Each fall, after pumpkin season she donates part of her profit to the school to buy books for the library.

On her way back out to her farm, she drove past his house to drop off the wallet.  She also shucked six more ears of corn, to make sure that were “perfect,” and put them in a peck poke.  When she pulled up to his house, he was sitting on a side porch.

“What do you want,” was how he greeted her.

“You left your wallet at the stand, and I have some extra corn for you.”

Dumbfounded, he didn’t know what to say. Clearly puzzled he asked, “Why are you doing this for me?”

“Well, I know you need your wallet, and I’m not open again until next week. I also assume you like corn, I had some I didn’t sell, so I thought I’d share with you.” 

Totally dumbfounded, he didn’t know what to say; he didn’t even bother to get out of his chair.  Laying the wallet and the corn on the porch, she turned, told him to have a nice day, and walked away.  He had given her no reason to offer him any kindness. Even so, she wasn’t going to allow his attitude and his actions to dictate hers.  By so doing, she offers a positive, timeless, and powerful life lesson.

Every day you get to make a choose between the low road and the high road. Low-roaders tend to be distrusting, disagreeable, self-serving, and apathetic. Those choosing the high road generally look for the good in others, which gives them reason to be affable, trusting, and empathetic. 

Low-roaders live with their guard up so no one gets the better of them, while high-roaders focus more on how they can make someone else’s day a little better. And as the lady at the farm stand demonstrated, real high-roaders even show deference to the low-roaders they encounter.