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CONSIDERING OTHERS

When the Henrico County School system decided to sell 1,000 used notebook computers to the public in Richmond Virginia, they never imagined the scene the sale would generate. The morning of the sale, people began lining up at 1:30am. By 7 o'clock, the crowd was estimated to be 5,500 people. When the gates opened, the rush to purchase $50 laptops turned into a violent stampede with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with folding chairs, and nearly driven over. Seventeen people were injured by the mob with four taken to the hospital for treatment.

Police say there were no arrests, though witnesses reported people threw themselves forward, screaming and pushing each other. The computers sold out by 1pm. Paul Proto, director of general services for the county said "It's rather strange that we would have such a tremendous response for the purchase of a laptop computer." He added "But I think that people tend to get caught up in the excitement of the event."

Thirty-three-year-old Blandine Alexander brought her twin 14-year-old boys at 4:30am to wait in line. She told reporters afterwards, "No matter what the kids want, I already told them I'm not doing that again."

Jesse Sandler said he was one of the people pushing forward, using a folding chair he had brought with him to beat back anyone who tried to cut in front of him. As he tapped at the keyboard of his new laptop, Sandler said, "I took my chair here and threw it over my shoulder and I went, 'Bam.' They were getting in front of me and I was there a lot earlier than them, so I thought that it was just."

—Associated Press, $50 Laptop Sale Turns Into a Free-For-All, August 17, 2005. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Philippians 2:3 (NASB) "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;"

CONSIDER OTHERS FIRST

A young college graduate joined a small Japanese company as a clerk in the 1960s. The young clerk would often contact company headquarters pointing out problem areas within the organization and offering his suggestions for correcting them.

For ten years, the young clerk's ideas seemed to go unnoticed. One day as he was leaving work, an executive from corporate headquarters stopped the clerk. He was taken to the president's office-a place he had never been before. In the meeting the man learned the company was about to implement one of his ideas. The president expected this idea would keep an entire division from filing bankruptcy.

A few months later, the clerk's suggestion did keep the division solvent. The young man eventually became chairman of the firm that once ignored his observations. His leadership changed the entire company. Today, individuals who challenge the status quo are encouraged, and sometimes celebrated. The company is Canon—a multibillion-dollar producer of cameras, copy machines, printers, and fax machines. You never know how God wants to use you.

Philippians 2:3. "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."

—Leading With Love… And Getting Results, Neil Eskelin, pg 88-89, 2001, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

For more information on Leading With Love… And Getting Results, go to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800757424/fm082-20