Whit's Wisdom

Don't take more than you need.

When you eat at a fast food restaurant, do you usually grab a handful of napkins,straws, ketchup or whatnot?  And sometimes you take them home for personal use, or simply throw the unused items away?  I used to do that too.

Then I visited this quaint little pastry shop while on vacation one year.  I struck up a conversation with the Owner and we began talking about raising kids and teaching them manners and how to act in public.  She mentioned how her children would go to McDonald's and just act like they owned the place...grabbing all the extras without a second thought to it.  She pointed out to them that IF people acted that way in their pastry shop and took things they didn't need, well then they wouldn't have the money to eat at McDonald's or anywhere else.  She explained that just because McDonald's was a big corporation with lots of locations and billions of dollars, that each and every one of those napkins cost them something....and every time you took one unnecessarily, you were just helping raise the price of those burgers you enjoy so much.  If they had to pay for what others wasted, then they passed along extra cost to us.

I was an adult....but I had honestly never realized what an impact I was making just by haphazardly grabbing all those little "extras".  So now, whether i visit a small establishment or a large, multi-million dollar restaurant chain, I take only what I need! 

Talk about learning lessons everywhere you go!