Not Now, Donald

Not Now, Donald

Respect everyone. . . . Fear God, and respect the king.

1 Peter 2:17

After several long months of preparation, Cindy was at last meeting with an extremely important client. The meeting was scheduled for noon in the American Airlines’ VIP lounge at Los Angeles International Airport because her client was stopping there on his way from Houston to London. Cindy was nervous about the meeting, but she was also excited. As luck would have it, her client’s flight was coming in a bit late.

As Cindy waited in the VIP lounge, she noticed none other than Donald Trump sitting on a sofa nearby reading the Wall Street Journal. Knowing it was probably risky, but being a bold businesswoman, Cindy decided to approach Mr. Trump.

Walking across the lounge, she stopped in front of “the Donald” and said, “Excuse me, Mr. Trump. I’m sorry to interrupt your reading, but I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Cindy Taylor with Ross & Cummings.”

Much to her surprise, Mr. Trump turned out to be very nice and welcoming. Encouraged, Cindy explained to him that she was about to close a very important business deal and wondered if he would be gracious enough to just say a quick “Hello, Cindy” to her when she was with her client.

Recognizing a bit of his own assertive business style in Cindy, Mr. Trump agreed to do just that. Cindy was thrilled.

Ten minutes later, while Cindy was speaking with her client, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Donald Trump. Cindy turned and looked up at him as he spoke.

“Hi, Cindy. How’s it going?”

Cindy glibly replied, “Not now, Donald. Can’t you see I’m in a meeting with a client?”

Dear God, I want you to always be part of my interactions with others. Help me to remember to treat people with respect and not just use them for my own purposes. Amen.