The story of the inferior maid and her son: One day, the master's house held a dinner party. The maid had to work late, so she brought her four-year-old son to the master's house. She felt very inferior and was afraid that her son would know that she was a maid, so she hid her son in the bathroom and told him that he would enjoy the dinner here.
The boy grew up in poverty and had never seen such a luxurious house, let alone a bathroom. He did not know what a flush toilet was, nor did he know the beautiful marble washbasin. Smelling the fragrance of detergent and soap, he was overwhelmed with happiness. He sat on the ground, placed the plate on the toilet lid, stared at the sausages and bread on the plate, and sang a happy song for himself.
When the dinner started, the master remembered the maid's son. Seeing the maid's evasive eyes, the master guessed everything. He quietly searched the house and finally found the boy in the bathroom following the sound of singing.
At that moment, the boy was just putting a piece of sausage into his mouth. The master was stunned and asked, "Why are you hiding here?"
"I am here to attend the dinner. Now I am having dinner," replied the boy.
"Do you know where you are?"
"Of course I know. This is the room the master specially prepared for me."
"Your mother must have told you this, right?"
"Yes, actually, even if my mother didn't say it, I also knew that the host would certainly prepare the best room for me." The boy pointed at the sausage on the plate and said, "But, I hope someone could join me to eat these things."
The master silently returned to the dining table and said to all the guests, "I'm sorry, I can't accompany you for dinner tonight. I have to accompany a special guest." Then, he took two plates from the dining table.
He went to the door of the bathroom and politely knocked on the door. After getting the boy's permission, he pushed the door open and put the two plates on the toilet lid. He said, "Such a good room, let's have dinner together."
That day, they talked a lot. The master made the boy believe that the bathroom was the best room in the whole house. They ate a lot of food in the bathroom and sang many songs. Guests kept knocking on the door to come in. They greeted the master and the boy, handed delicious apple juice and golden baked food to the boy. They showed exaggerated and envious expressions. Later, they simply squeezed into the small bathroom together and sang songs for the boy. Everyone was serious, and no one thought it was a farce.
Years later, the boy grew up. He had his own company and a house with two bathrooms. He entered the upper class and became rich. Every year, he donated a large sum of money to help some poor people, but he never held donation ceremonies or let those poor people know his name. When friends asked about the reason, he said, "I always remember many years ago, one day, there was a rich man, and many people, who carefully protected the self-esteem of a four-year-old boy."
I shed tears when I read this story. Later, I learned that many people were like me. This story made us realize how important it is for a person to gain respect. The reason why I talk about these is because, in my view, our society today lacks respect for people too much, our culture lacks respect for people too much, especially respect for the weak, and our education also lacks respect for students. I always think that respect is the core of democratic spirit, and learning respect is a necessary quality that every citizen must possess. The purpose of education is to make people more dignified in future life. If we want students to understand self-respect, we must never hurt their self-respect.