Another reason to be nice

Today I learned that it is very beneficial to be friendly with all people. (Well, I’ve always known this, and I am usually very friendly to all, but today it really did pay off.)

We live about half an hour from where I work. From work to where S goes to school is just over 10 minutes away. From home to the school is just over 15 minutes… This morning I was about 3 minutes from the office when I got a phone call from Boss telling me that S had called and he had forgotten to take his medication this morning and I needed to bring it to him. Again, I am now about 30 minutes’ drive from home.

When I got to the office, I called the school and asked the secretary to let S know that he would have to try and manage the day without his medication. I asked that she reassure him that it wasn’t a problem to miss a day because I didn’t want him stressing over having not taken it.
Shortly before 10:30 I got a phone call from the new Principal. For other reasons, she had been observing in S’s French class this morning and noticed that S was acting quite agitated. Apparently she even commented about his actions to the teacher and this is when she discovered that S hadn’t taken his meds. The principal then called me to let me know that she felt it was important that he take his pills just to ensure that he continues to have successful days.

Great.

So, here is where I get to the point in the story where I explain my opening statement. The idea of driving half an hour to go home and get a pill, then drive to the school and then BACK to work was not high on my list of things to do today. (Now, don’t get me wrong, I would have done it if I had no other option - which I thought it might come to – but I wanted to find a way to get him the medication in the fastest way possible and still not be out of the office for almost an hour and a half.)

I don’t know what made me think of it, but I called the pharmacist to see if there was a possibility of getting just one of each medication. Since this lady knows me, she was willing to do me this big favour! In fact, she even offered to have someone deliver the medication to the school for me. I told her that would be great, but there was a time constraint, so I went and got the ‘emergency supply’ for S.

When I got to the school, I asked S how his day was going. Asked him if he’d been having a good one, etc., etc. From the way he answered me, I really don’t think that he realized he was acting any different than normal. He has told me that he feels different when he has his meds – it just surprises me when others can see the difference.

So, moral of the story – be nice to everyone you meet. Someday you may just need them to help you out with something and if you aren’t nice, they aren’t going to be as willing to do so.