In the rush and hustle of our imperfect world during the holiday season, it is good to stop and reflect, why do we put up with it?
I was reminded of an incident at work the other day. At the end of the second shift, picking tickets for six orders were found on a table by a supervisor walking though the area. The second-shift crew had just finished picking, inspecting, labeling, shrink wrapping and loading onto trucks more than 60,000 packages. The crew had punched out for the night and were on their way home. Only the supervisors and a few others were left. There is no third shift in this department to hand these orders over to. The last several semi trailers had been sealed up and were pulling away from the docks.
From a statistician's point of view, missing six orders out of the millions of packages Swiss Colony ships during the first 15 days of December alone would be an acceptable margin for error with most other companies. More than half its annual orders are shipped out during this time each year. The majority of these orders shipped are someone's Christmas present. As the moment of decision came for this supervisor now holding these six orders, it clearly was understood that all the orders are presorted by truck heading for a specific area of the country.
"We have to stop a truck!" was the call that went over the radio. After some protest from the driver, the truck returned to the dock. The orders were readied, and loaded. Those gifts were on their way.
Such compassionate service brought back to mind a story I heard about a man walking along a beach early one morning. A ways ahead he saw a young boy throwing starfish back into the ocean. As he approached, the man was amazed at how many the boy was finding to throw, for there weren't any where the man was walking. Reaching the boy, the man asked why he was throwing starfish.
"The tide washed them ashore and they can only survive in the water," was the reply.
"The beach goes on for miles, how can you possibly make a difference?"
As they walked, the boy thought about the man's question. Picking up the next starfish the boy threw it as far as he could into the water and then replied, "I made a difference for that one."
Such gifts remind us of the greatest gift ever given, which is available to all, given by Him who's birth we remember each December. Mistakes sometimes happen, but they can be overcome. It's "by grace we are saved after all we can do."
I am proud to say I have worked with such people many Christmas seasons over the past decade. Is there any wonder why Swiss Colony has been mailing Christmas gifts for more than 83 years?
I was reminded of an incident at work the other day. At the end of the second shift, picking tickets for six orders were found on a table by a supervisor walking though the area. The second-shift crew had just finished picking, inspecting, labeling, shrink wrapping and loading onto trucks more than 60,000 packages. The crew had punched out for the night and were on their way home. Only the supervisors and a few others were left. There is no third shift in this department to hand these orders over to. The last several semi trailers had been sealed up and were pulling away from the docks.
From a statistician's point of view, missing six orders out of the millions of packages Swiss Colony ships during the first 15 days of December alone would be an acceptable margin for error with most other companies. More than half its annual orders are shipped out during this time each year. The majority of these orders shipped are someone's Christmas present. As the moment of decision came for this supervisor now holding these six orders, it clearly was understood that all the orders are presorted by truck heading for a specific area of the country.
"We have to stop a truck!" was the call that went over the radio. After some protest from the driver, the truck returned to the dock. The orders were readied, and loaded. Those gifts were on their way.
Such compassionate service brought back to mind a story I heard about a man walking along a beach early one morning. A ways ahead he saw a young boy throwing starfish back into the ocean. As he approached, the man was amazed at how many the boy was finding to throw, for there weren't any where the man was walking. Reaching the boy, the man asked why he was throwing starfish.
"The tide washed them ashore and they can only survive in the water," was the reply.
"The beach goes on for miles, how can you possibly make a difference?"
As they walked, the boy thought about the man's question. Picking up the next starfish the boy threw it as far as he could into the water and then replied, "I made a difference for that one."
Such gifts remind us of the greatest gift ever given, which is available to all, given by Him who's birth we remember each December. Mistakes sometimes happen, but they can be overcome. It's "by grace we are saved after all we can do."
I am proud to say I have worked with such people many Christmas seasons over the past decade. Is there any wonder why Swiss Colony has been mailing Christmas gifts for more than 83 years?
