Tess, an earnest 8-year-old, was worried. Her little brother was very sick and she overheard her mom crying on the phone: “They say his only chance is an experimental operation, but it isn’t covered by insurance and there’s no way we can pay for it.”
Tess went to a jar containing all the money she had saved. Although she wasn’t supposed to go to the store alone, this was an emergency. She walked four blocks to the drugstore where her mom got her medicine. She went to the counter, but the pharmacist was deeply engaged in a conversation with another man.
Finally, Tess said, “Excuse me, but this is an emergency.”
“What do you need?” the pharmacist snapped. “I’m talking to my brother who I haven’t seen in years.”
Tess replied, “Well, I have a brother, too, and he’s going to die if you don’t sell me an experimental operation.”
The pharmacist said, “We don’t sell operations here.”
His brother stepped forward and asked softly, “What kind of operation do you need?”
“To take sick lumps out of his brain,” Tess answered, “and I have money.” She poured all her cash out on the counter.
The brother said, “Well, that may be just enough.”
After a discussion with Tess’s mom, the nationally renowned neurosurgeon took the case and successfully performed the complex operation at no charge.
This is my version of a story that once circulated on the Internet. Even if it’s not true, it’s a wonderful parable about what can happen when caring is turned into action.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.