Throughout his life, Steve Morrison worked hard and became pretty successful. So his son Luke never missed out on anything and had more privilege than most of his friends. While some people would use that to advance their lives, Luke took everything for granted.

One day Steve was on the way home with Luke after school when he got an urgent call from his partner about a case. Steve was a lawyer at a firm called Case Paramount in South Philadelphia, which he and his partner Morris had started right after graduating from college.

As Steve jumped on the call, he pulled the car over by a nearby bakery and began sifting through a set of documents in his briefcase. “Yes, Morris, I found the papers. Is the client coming today?”

“He hasn’t booked an appointment yet, Steve, but the case looks a bit complicated. Do you think we can take it up?”

“We have to, Morris. This case is really important for our firm. In fact, I have gone through the case files roughly, and it looked pretty intriguing. Also, I was wondering if….” Just as Steve was about to tell Morris something important, Luke interrupted him. “I’m hungry, dad. Can I just go to the bakery? I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Steve silently motioned for Luke to keep quiet, but the boy wouldn’t stop. “Come on, dad! You know my summer vacation start tomorrow, and mom won’t let me eat out. I have to face the wrath of her healthy diet. Anyway, you’re busy on a call! What the hell am I supposed to do here?”

Tired of telling the boy to be quiet, Steve eventually gave up and handed him a few dollar bills from his wallet.

“Just hold on for a sec, Morris,” he said on the call then instructed Luke not to buy anything with peanuts because the boy was allergic to it. Luke nodded to his father and dashed into the bakery.

“Welcome, sir! I’m Madison. How may I help you?” the shop assistant asked Luke with a smile.

Luke didn’t even bother to smile back at her. He was busy scrolling through Instagram and quickly placed his order. “I’d like to have two cinnamon rolls and a large chocolate frappé. Pack it, and yeah, make sure it’s quick!”

“Sure, sir,” Madison replied as she collected his order and walked away. However, because she was partially blind and couldn’t see properly, instead of packing two cinnamon rolls for Luke, she packed one cinnamon roll and one cream bun. “Here, you go, sir. Your frappé is being prepared. I’ll get it for you shortly.”

Luke was anything but impressed. “WHAT THE HELL?” He looked up from his phone. “I placed an order for two cinnamon rolls, why is there a cream bun here? Are you deaf?!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, sir,” Madison apologized. “I’ll quickly replace it! I couldn’t….”

“Look, I don’t care! Just get me the order fast!” Luke snapped. “I wonder how hard it is to pack an order properly.”

Madison hurried inside and returned with Luke’s order. This time she asked one of her co-workers to double-check it because she was afraid Luke would yell at her again. “I’m sorry for the mix-up, sir,” she apologized again. “It’s $10. How would you like to pay?”

Luke didn’t hear a word she said. He double-checked the order, tossed a few dollars on the counter, and walked away. Meanwhile, Steve, who followed inside the bakery, had caught Luke’s rude behavior towards Madison. He shook his head, shocked at how rude his son had been to the bakery staff. He decided it was time he learned how to treat people with respect!

When they left the bakery, Steve asked Luke, “So, did you get everything, champ?”

“Yeah, dad! But that place has some really unprofessional staff. I mean, how hard is it to pack two cinnamon rolls? And the worst part is that after that assistant Madison gave me the wrong order, she used her partial blindness as an excuse. Anyway, dad, what are we doing this year for my vacation? Are we going to Zurich? I heard it’s beautiful and mom wants to go there too!”

“Well, I actually just thought about something else for this summer, son.”

“Oh really? Are you planning a trip somewhere else? Maybe to grandma’s house in Vancouver?”

“Not really, Luke. I’ve decided you’ll be working at a bakery or a diner part-time, just like how other kids make use of their vacations. But let’s keep it a little short for you. You’ll work for just one month..”

“Oh, come on, dad. Stop joking! You’re not serious, right?”

“I’m serious, son. But if you don’t want to do it, it’s fine. But you won’t have any Netflix subscription from now on, and you won’t leave home without asking permission from both your mom and me. If you’re okay with that, you can skip it.”

“THIS IS NOT COOL, DAD! YOU CAN’T DO THAT TO ME!”

“Well, I gave you an option, Luke. It’s fine if you don’t want to do it.”

“Ugh… Fine! I’ll do it! But just for one month!”

“Okay!” Steve said.

When Luke started working at a diner, he realized it wasn’t an easy job. His boss, Mr. Duncan, was very strict, and when Luke made a mistake, he would just lash out at him. For instance, one day, Luke added tomatoes to a burger when Mr. Duncan had clearly instructed him not to do so. Mr. Duncan was furious with him and fired him.

That day, Luke returned home and apologized to his dad for being so rude to Madison. “Working is not easy, dad. Last week when I went to the bakery, I yelled at the shop assistant. I shouldn’t have done that, dad. I’m so sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be sorry to me, Luke,” Steve pointed out. “Instead, Madison is the one who deserves an apology. I saw what happened that day at the bakery when I followed you inside. Remember son, you should never judge a person based on their appearance, financial status, or job. We all work very hard for our families.”

“I get it, dad,” Luke said quietly.

The next day, Luke went to Madison and apologized to her for acting rudely. Later, he joined the same bakery as a part-time employee, and soon, he became good friends with Madison.

Madison was very smart and talented. Although she was near-blind, she drew beautiful paintings. One day, she showed one of her paintings to Luke, and the boy was really impressed by it. “Wow! You paint really well. Why didn’t you ever think of becoming a professional painter?” he asked her.

“You see, Luke, it’s not very easy for me. Since I can’t see things clearly, it takes me hours and days to properly create a painting. My doctor said that if I get laser surgery done, I’ll be able to see properly, but the treatment is very costly. This job doesn’t pay so well, and I can’t leave it because I need to support my family.”

Luke felt really bad for Madison, and that night, at home, he asked his dad if they could pay for Madison’s surgery. Steve was proud that Luke was helping someone in need, and he happily agreed to it.

When Madison’s surgery was done, and she returned home, Steve helped her find a job at an art gallery as a designer. One of Morris’s friends was looking for a designer for his company, and Madison turned out to be the perfect choice.

What can we learn from this story?

• Never pass judgment on someone based on their looks, appearance, weakness, or financial situation. Luke humiliated Madison and looked down upon her because she was just a regular employee at a bakery.
• You’ll never know what a person is going through until you walk in their shoes. Luke didn’t realize how hard Madison’s job was until he started working at a restaurant.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who discovers fresh flowers at his wife’s grave every week and meets a crying boy there one day.

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