Musings from the Ozone

By--Steve Goodier

A cartoon depicts a woman shaking hands with her clergyman as she
leaves the church. The caption says, "Thank you for the sermon. It was
like water to a drowning man." Some compliments are better left
unsaid....

Isn't it true that words carry with them immense power? Power to build
up and power to tear down. Such was the case with the words of Maude,
a woman who learned that there is no wrong time to say the right
thing.

It was a cold, rainy day in March. Across the room in the millinery
department of the store where Maude worked, sat Laura, a woman about
Maude's age. Other workers did not like Laura; they thought her to be
snobbish and aloof. And Maude agreed.

But sweeping the bias from her eyes, she made up her mind to say
something kind to Laura. Finally, she managed, "Do you know, Laura,
that I've worked in this room with you for several years. And whenever
I glance up I see your head silhouetted against the window there
behind you. I think you have the prettiest profile and hair that I
have ever seen on anybody." Her words were not insincere flattery. She
meant it.

Laura looked up and began to cry. "That's the first kind word anybody
has ever said to me in all the years I've worked here," she said.

Maude discovered that Laura's aloofness was not due to snobbishness,
but shyness. The two became friends. Other workers soon began to
include Laura in their activities, and she blossomed like a flower
that, for the first time, found sunlight. The right words, spoken in
kindness, changed a life.

Never underestimate the power of your words. There is no wrong time
to say the right thing. And there is no better time than now.