Never turn our backs on those who are in need

One stormy night many years ago, an elderly man and his wife entered
the lobby of a small hotel in Philadelphia. Trying to get out of the
rain, the couple approached the front desk hoping to get some shelter
for the night.

"Could you possibly give us a room here?" the husband asked. The
clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile, looked at the couple and
explained that there were three conventions in town.

"All of our rooms are taken," the clerk said. "But I can't send a
nice couple like you out into the rain at one o'clock in the morning.
Would you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It's not exactly a
suite, but it will be good enough to make you folks comfortable for the
night."

When the couple declined, the young man pressed on. "Don't worry
about me; I'll make out just fine," the clerk told them. So the couple
agreed.

As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the
clerk, "You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best
hotel in the United States. Maybe someday I'll build one for you."

The clerk looked at them and smiled. The three of them had a good
laugh.

As they drove away, the elderly couple agreed that the helpful clerk
was indeed exceptional, as finding people who are both friendly and
helpful isn't easy.

Two years passed. The clerk had almost forgotten the incident when he received a letter from the old man. It recalled that stormy night and
enclosed a round-trip ticket to New York, asking the young man to pay
them a visit.

The old man met him in New York, and led him to the corner of Fifth
Avenue and 34th Street. He then pointed to a great new building there, a palace of reddish stone, with turrets and watchtowers thrusting up to
the sky.
"That," said the older man, "is the hotel I have just built for you
to manage."

"You must be joking," the young man said.

"I can assure you I am not," said the older man, a sly smile playing
around his mouth.
The older man's name was William Waldorf Astor, and
the magnificent structure was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

The young clerk who became its first manager was George C.
Boldt. This young clerk never foresaw the turn of events that
would lead him to become the manager of one of the world's most
glamorous hotels.

The Bible says that we are not to turn our backs on those who are in need, for we might be entertaining angels. Life is more
accurately measured by the lives you touch than the things you acquire…