[PBARC] Character

[E. Glenn Wolf, Jr.]

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
into the Harvard University President's outer office and asked for an
appointment.

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 want 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, but 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.

"If that is all it costs 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, 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 or to them.


--by Malcolm Forbes