Core values in action

In a frantic hurry I rushed from my house to be on time for an engagement that had just popped up suddenly. As I’d have to park the car some distance from my rendezvous it was quicker running. Unless you’re running for a bus it does look suspicious to see a grown-up sprinting down the street. However, care went out the window as my meeting was important so I ran like the wind.

Careering onto the main road and needing to cross I envisaged losing some time because of traffic so I headed for the traffic lights. Incredibly, there were no vehicles. Something to do with petrol prices, maybe? I looked down the road and saw a cloaked old man jaywalking to the other side. Oh well if its all clear for him I’ll be OK, I began to cross and then halted my walking immediately with an emergency stop.

On the other side of the traffic lights was a mother with a young boy and they were, I guessed, waiting for the green man to show. The red man was still showing and not wanting to set a bad example to the child, I waited. And waited. I checked to see if they had pressed the wait button. They had. The wait was lit up and we were doing what it told us: we were waiting. The boy was looking left, right then left again or was it right, left, right, I can’t remember.
I’m going to be late, I’m going to be late, I kept thinking and I was tempted to cross. Somehow I resisted the forceful temptation to be evil. At last the green man figure alighted.

I was delighted to have remained true and to have assisted the boy’s mother in passing on a valuable lesson on road craft. We smiled as we passed in the middle of the road. I was sure the wee guy was wearing a Darth Vader T-shirt. Honestly, you couldn’t make this up.

Now that I was safely ensconced on the pavement of my destiny, I hot-footed it again to get to my vital appointment.