Catholic Singles

WHAT I WAS TAUGHT
BY: MARK ANTHONY ROSOLOWSKI



I once heard someone say, "I am smarter than no other person, for I can learn something from everyone." The person I heard saying that was a man with a learning disability, he said it proudly as he swept the floors and stocked the shelves in a local grocery store. I watched this man over the years and after a short time I realized that you could always tell the area he was working in, the floors were spotless, and the shelves were neat and orderly. Also as you neared the area where he was working you would hear his cheerful hellos to everyone as they walked past him, and the smiles that he brought to their faces.

On more then one occasion you would see teenagers comes running through his aisles knocking items off the shelves and spilling things onto the floor. He would just smile and start to pick up the items off the floor, then go get his broom and mop and clean up the floor. He never lost his smile, he never got angry, he would continue to smile and say hello to everyone that walked past him as he worked. One day these same teenagers knocked him over; they called him a dummy and continued out of the store. I helped him to his feet he thanked me, he straightened himself up, then he went about his job, he started cleaning his area up and working on the shelves that were now in total disarray.

As he cleaned his area up, I started to help him pick cans and boxes up off the floor. As I helped him I asked him if it bothered him when the kids called him a dummy that was when he smiled at me and told me. “I am smarter than no other person, for I can learn something from everyone.” As he told me that I was taught something by him. I was taught that no matter what happens you have to keep smiling. No matter how many set backs come your way, clean them up and continue on. He taught me true forgiveness, not to retaliate, to let those that hurt you go on, for you are better by not retaliating. He taught me to smile, he taught me about the deepness of God’s love. Most of all he taught me how to be the person I still hope to become someday.