A MAN LOST HIS JOB, WHEN HE GOT LATE FOR HIS WORK AS HE HELPED AN ELDERLY LADY, THE LADY HELPED HIM TO GET HIS JOB BACK

It was one of the similar mornings to the other ones, as Jacob left his home to arrive at his workplace, but he got late, and fired. Just because he had helped an elderly woman.

He was living alone in his tiny house, which was constantly in a mess, because Jacob was thinking that he doesn’t need to tidy up the room, since it was going to be in a mess tomorrow.

He had two shirts, which he was changing in every two days, since his job had a different uniform that they were providing to him. He was thinking himself as a renaissance man, since he had worked at many different professions, such as, a plumber, a parking lot attendant, a ticket taker, a shampooer, and, a backup dancer in a music video.

For his new job, he became an attendant at the old grocery store of his neighborhood. He started to like his new job, as he was happy to add another uniform to his collection.

As usual, he was arriving at the grocery store, five minutes before his shift starts. As he left his house, he said, “Finally, a good day!”, as he hailed the people on the street.

As he passed an old lady that he said “Hi!”, he heard a noice on his back. The old lady dropped her groceries, as she said, “Now, isn’t this just wonderful! $2 for a paper bag that can’t even hold groceries for a 10-minute distance.”

As she was annoyed with the situation, a stranged had pushed the old lady, “Move it along, lady!”

“Well, isn’t that a lovely attitude to live with?” Jacob said, as he wanted stranger man to hear him.

“I have just the thing to help you, ma’am,” Jacob said, as he pulled two cloth bags from his backpack.

“Voila! Now please, stand back and let all that anger go while I pack these groceries up for you.”

Old woman was happy that a nice young man had helped her.

“Thank you so much for helping this oldie out, Mr…” she said, as Jacob said, “Oh, just call me Jacob. And you’re more than welcome. What I did for you is actually what I do for a living these days. I work at the Freshmart store.”

“Ah, you do? Sorry, but I stand by my opinion of their paper bags. Too flimsy!”

“I couldn’t agree more, ma’am.”

“Oh, please, call me Stacy.”

They had talked until Jacob had helped her as he carried her groceries to her house.

“This is incredibly sweet of you, Jacob. Come in, let me make you a coffee.” Stacy said, as Jacob was running late for his work, he said, “Oh no, ma’am, thank you. I’m already late for work. I’ll see you around!”

As he arrived at the grocery store, angry eyes were waiting for him. The store owner said, as he was angry, “What time does your shift start?”

“12 noon, sir.”

“And what is the time now?” He said with a higher tone.

“12:10 p.m., sir.”

“So what does that say about you?” His boss said.

“That I’m…late?”

The boss shouted, “That you are UNPROFESSIONAL!”

“With all due respect, sir. I might be many things, but not—”

Store owner was angry, “You! Get out! You’re fired! I don’t want lazy people like you working at my store.”

As Jacob was calm, with the words he heard, he was shocked, since he couldn’t afford to lose his job.

“No, sir, please. I actually left my home earlier than usual this morning. But there was an old lady who needed help on the way. She was carrying a heavy bag of groceries, and the handle of the bag snapped, throwing all her things into the pavement. I just…” his boss cut him.

“Oh, so kindness is the excuse of your choice, is it? Very original! That changes nothing. If you want to stand on the pavement and help passers-by carry their groceries, do that. Don’t waste my time and money.” The owner said.

“But, sir—” store owner cut him again, “Save it. Wear that stupid cheerful smile on your face again and get out of my store!”

“Why can’t I manage to stick to one job? Why can’t I seem to make something out of my life? Maybe my father was right. I am a horrib—” as Jacob was thinking on his own, outside of the store, he heard a familiar voice.

“Hi, Jacob! I was hoping I’d see you here!” Stacy said, as she interrupted Jacob’s thoughts.

“I brought you a fresh batch of cakes from the apples you helped me salvage this morning.” She continued, as Jacob had throw and empty smile towards her.

“Go on inside. There’s plenty for you and all your colleagues.” Stacy said, and Jacob had changed his face.

“What’s the matter?”

“I just got fired. The store owner sent me away for being 10 minutes late. I told him why I was late, but it didn’t seem to matter.” Jacob said.

“What? Arnold fired you?” Stacy said, as it surprised Jacob for Stacy to know the name of his boss.

“You know my boss?”

“Of course I do! He can be a real pain sometimes, with his anger always at the tip of his nose. But this is not done!” Stacy said, as she was angry.

“Arnold? Arnold!” Stacy rushed into the store, as she wanted to cause a scene.

“Aunt Stacy, hi! How can I help you today?” Arnold ran towards his aunt, as he was surprised.

“Oh, don’t give me that!” Stacy said.

“Did you fire this young man for being late today?” Stacy pointed towards Jacob, who was hiding behind her.

“I don’t understand. How do you—”

Stacy cut him, “He told me he was helping an old woman on the street, didn’t he? Well, guess who that woman was, Arnold? Me!”

Stacy started to shout, as everyone in the store had gathered around them, “I’ve been warning Cindy that her boy was getting out of hand. First, you don’t call her for two weeks straight, saying you’re always busy, you forget your mother’s 70th birthday, and now this? Is this what you’re busy doing, Arnie? Bossing people around and firing them for showing an ounce of kindness? Do you even remember what kindness is, Arnie? Is this what you’ve grown up to become? I doubt this is the same boy I helped my friend raise…”

“Alright, alright, aunt Stacy!” Arnold stopped his aunt.

“I had no idea it was you he was helping. And anyway, it shouldn’t have mattered. I’ve just been so stressed with work here that I…I took it out on this well-intentioned man. It wasn’t right of me. I realize that now.” Arnold said.

“Are you sure you do? Because I’m ready to lecture you for another hour if that’s what it takes!” Stacy said, as Arnold held her, trying to calm her down.

“Jacob, I apologize for how I acted earlier. You can have your old job back. Actually, I’m also going to take a look at your salary. You deserve more than I pay you because you have much more work experience. Let me fix that in the coming week. For now, would you please join back?” Arnold said, as it shocked Jacob.

“Well, don’t just stand there, Jacob!” Stacy said to Jacob.

“Get back to it! The first task on your list: distribute these cakes to everyone. They’re getting cold!”

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