Integrity Is Everything.

No matter how educated, talented, rich or cool you believe you are, how you treat people ultimately tells all.  Integrity is everything. ~Unknown.

I’ve heard it said that integrity shines brightest upon those acts that are not witnessed by others.  In other words, it’s standing firm on honor, moral principles and honesty if there are a lot of people watching you or if there’s no one watching you.  You do the right thing even if no one is looking.

I adore people of integrity.  People who treat everyone with kindness and honor.  They smile and say “Good Morning!” to the janitor as quickly as they say it to the CEO.  Those are my kind of people.

I was once friends with someone who I thought had integrity.  It broke my heart to find out he didn’t.

Our friendship ended several years ago.  We were business associates and had become friends around work lunches, community meetings and other work-involved projects.  For years, I looked up to him as someone who was a person of character and integrity.

But during one of those business lunches for about 12 people, I saw him treat a waitress with disrespect and cruelty.  It was not a nice scene and it’s one that I happen to remember every detail about.  Even though it has been several years, I remember what I was wearing, exactly who else was there, where each one was sitting and each of their reactions.

Loud-mouthed me called him out.  I wasn’t going to sit there and watch him be cruel to someone and not say or do something.  I told him to stop and that she would be him the right order, but he kept on, screaming at me, “Charity, she’s just a f’ing waitress!”  By this time, the waitress was in tears, the manager had walked over and I asked him to bring me my check.  The manager shook his head and kindly said, “No worries, Mrs. Bentley.  It’s taken care of”.  I nodded and left.

When I looked back, about 5 women from the group were behind me and by the time I made it to the car, I saw 3 of the men walking out into the parking lot.

I never spoke to my “friend” again.  True character always shines through. But it took me years to realize that he did not have the integrity that I thought he did.  I had to see the loss of his friendship as a plus, a positive in my life.  Even though I didn’t realize the negative energy was there, it was.  I’m sure that wasn’t the first time he had treated someone like that.

True integrity treats everyone with honor, dignity and respect.  You don’t treat the waitress any differently than you treat the owner of the restaurant.

Integrity is everything.

Sending you blessings of love & kindness from Sterrett, Alabama!
Charity