Late one cold winter’s night, an elderly American couple were seeking overnight accommodation in a small country hotel. When they approached the reception desk, the young man on duty told them that the hotel was completely full. The elderly man turned to his wife and said, “Well it looks like we are going to have to spend the night sleeping in the car.” As the couple were about to leave, the receptionist asked, “Would you be willing to use my room? It’s not very luxurious, but it’s clean, warm and you’d get a night’s sleep.” They asked where he would sleep and he said he could sleep in the office for one night. The next morning after breakfast, the old man went to thank the receptionist for his kindness and said to him, “You know, you should be the manager of this hotel, in fact you should be the manager of the best hotel in this country, and you have really shown me what customer service is all about.” The young man smiled, offered his thanks, got on with his work and soon forgot about the elderly couple.

The following year he was surprised to receive a letter from the couple, containing a first class plane ticket and asking him to visit then in New York for a few days, as they had something they wanted to show him. Having some holidays due, he flew to New York and was met at the airport by a large chauffeur driven car, which drove him to a magnificent hotel where he was warmly greeted at the entrance by the elderly couple. Having been shown around the hotel his hosts took him in for dinner and afterwards as they drank their coffee and brandy, the young man wondered what he had travelled all this way to see. The old man who had dressed for dinner, leaned back in his chair, lit a large cigar and said, “And now to business, I think you are wasted working in the UK, so I’d like to offer you a position as my assistant manager and who knows, when my manager retires in a few years’ time you may be able to fill his post.”

The well-dressed man offering the job was William Waldorf, millionaire and owner of one of the finest hotels in New York.

We never know where an act of kindness may lead us, do we