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In the seventies, i worked for a earthmoving equipment company. I was an inspector in the quality
control department. My job was to test and inspect the machines for defects when they came off
the assembly line. Machines with defects would be repaired by mechanics. Then an inspector
would verify the repairs. If a repair was not done correctly, the inspector would notify the
mechanic who did the repair, and explain to him the reason.
One of the mechanic was named Stanley. Stanley did not like inspectors to find something wrong
with his work. If an inspector found something wrong, Stanley would become very angry. Then, they would argue and yell at each other. Everyone around would stop working ,and watch the scene.
They were used to the confrontations between the inspectors and Stanley. Then one day it was my
turn to verify Stanley"s repair work. i found one repair that did not meet the quality specification.
i told Stanley kindly what was wrong with the repair. Then it happened. He became very angry, almost in a rage. he was shaking, his face was red. I stayed calm and did not react to him. i did not speak.
Suddenly, something came over me, i felt at peace. It seemed that his anger and words were going
around me. They did not affect me. It was a strange feeling. As usual, everybody had stopped working and were watching us. My fellows inspectors asked me why i did not say anything to him.
They said " why did you let him do that to you" I did not answer them. I was still at peace.
the next day at the beginning of the shift , i saw Stanley walking towards me. I thought " Oh no, not again ".
But Stanley was smiling. He shook my hand and said to me. " i want to apologize for what i did to
you yesterday. I had no right to do that to you " I told him that i accept his apology and that
i had already forgiven him. from that time on, we were good friends. But something had happened
to Stanley. He never again became angry with anyone. Stanley was a " new " man. If an inspector
found something wrong with his work, he would smile and say, " i will fix it ". My co-workers
would say to me. " What happened to him ? He is not the same, he is different " . Silently, i thanked
God that Stanley had been freed from this anger. A few months later, Stanley retired from the
company. Then one day, his son who also worked at the company, told me that his Father had
passed away. Again, i thanked God that Stanley's Soul had found peace before his passing.
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