After a few years at a firm Reuven* felt he wanted to explore different opportunities. He went to let the boss know that he planned to leave the firm in two weeks (with the option of staying a little longer if necessary).
The boss wasn’t happy but he had one strange request- being that Reuven was a well respected employee he asked that Reuven not tell anyone that he was leaving.
The next Friday Reuven left work like he did every other Friday, just wishing everyone a good weekend (the boss offered to ship his personal belongings on Monday).
Once in the elevator Reuven spotted the receptionist and since he already “left” he felt he was allowed to tell her the news.
Upon hearing that he was leaving she burst into tears.
“I don’t understand”, said Reuven, “in all my years here the only thing I ever said to you was ‘good morning’ when I came in and ‘have a good night’ when I left”.
“That’s just it”, she replied, “before you came no one had any respect for me, they all thought I was [NOT WORTH REPEATING] and I suffered from constant verbal abuse. I was ready to leave and then you came along. Everyone respected you, they saw how you always greeted me with a smile and never used foul language and they began to treat me with respect (and watch their language).”
* Name has been changed since I didn’t ask for permission to repeat the story.