Here For the Memories
A thought-provoking audio memoir shorts filled with stories, humor, anecdotes, and commentary on social, cultural, business, and religious issues. Whatever Linden remembers and thinks will entertain, challenge, and inform is a possible subject.
Here For the Memories
Meeting the World's Richest Man
Have you ever mistaken an unassuming stranger for someone much less influential than they truly are? Join me on an exploration of moments that reveal the true essence of wealth and humility. From an enlightening experience in a Chicago skyscraper with a humble elderly man, who turned out to be the owner of the entire building, to an unforgettable encounter with Sam Walton, the legendary Walmart founder, as he played the role of a modest greeter, these stories will challenge your perception of success. Through these unexpected interactions, I found a deeper understanding of what it means to be truly rich in spirit and character.
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Here For the Memories
Here for the memories, thought-provoking audio memoir shorts filled with stories, humor, anecdotes and commentary on social, cultural, business and religious issues. Whatever Lyndon remembers and thinks will entertain, challenge and inform is a possible subject is a possible subject. The collection of memories about one's life allows for the development and refinement of a sense of self, including who one is, how one has changed and what one might be like in the future.
Speaker 2:Greetings and salutations. This is Lyndon Wolfe and you have joined my audio memoir here for the Memories. So glad that you stopped by and I hope you enjoy this little journey down memory lane, if you will. We're going to talk about people. We're going to talk about wealthy people.
Speaker 2:Early in my career as an embryonic 23-year-old, I was on an elevator with my boss in a Chicago skyscraper. It was an amazing experience. By the way, joining us for the ride was a small elderly man with an oversized suit and tie and a brown sack carrying what I presumed was his lunch. After jumping off on the floor lower than our destination, I said to my boss how adorable I found the quiet, simple man. Yes, my boss said he still comes to work every day with the lunch his wife of 60 years has prepared for him. My boss seemingly knew my thoughts when he said you know he doesn't have to come to work at all. Really, I said yes, he owns the building. It reminds me of the Texas gold digger who was turned off by the man who owned no cattle and only one acre of land. You're Texan. You need many cattle and many acres to be considered wealthy, I guess. Anyway, after snubbing him, she reluctantly asked where his measly one acre was, and he told her it's in downtown New York City, manhattan to be exact. With that, he turned on his heels and left her standing with mouth agape.
Speaker 2:I've met a massive number of people along the way. This has probably been the incubator for my misanthropic tendencies. People are both fascinating and frustrating. Some along the way have surprised me in such a way that I will never forget my encounter with them. I'm about to share one of those experiences.
Speaker 2:It was 1988, when I had the unique experience of meeting a world-renowned figure who was intentionally incognito, who was intentionally incognito? The small Memphis church I was pastoring was having a vacation Bible school for the first time in years, and I was looking for craft supplies for the attending children. So I stopped by a newly opened Walmart. There, between the row of cash registers and the shopping area, I was greeted by a smallish, older gentleman wearing a Walmart cap and he inquired as to what I was looking for. If you can imagine the Walmart greeter today, that's exactly what he looked like and acted like, for that matter. Oh, anyway, without asking my name or sharing his, he took me to the exact aisle and the exact location of the supplies that I needed. He thanked me for shopping in Walmart and went on his way, and I did not see him again. Upon taking my items to a clerk standing behind one of the registers, she asked me if I enjoyed meeting him, who I thought, and that's what I said. I was genuinely surprised and confused by the question.
Speaker 2:My brief encounter with the Hatted Customer Service Rep was the only human interaction that I had had, and though it was helpful, it certainly was not memorable, right, mr Walton? Sam Walton, she said and pointed toward the parking lot. He drove in from Bentonville for the store opening. There's his pickup truck famous pickup truck by the way way out there, parked as far away as possible from the store so that he would not take the parking spot of a patron. He wanted them to have the most convenient spots. He didn't think he deserved special treatment, or to park in a prominent or more accessible space. Humbly, he parked his old truck in such a place that no one would be inconvenienced but him.
Speaker 2:I immediately turned my head and quickly scanned the building in hopes of catching another glimpse of the richest man in America and one of the richest men in the world, but to no avail. As you would expect, he was busy anonymously assisting another Walmart customer. Walmart stores grew to be the world's largest corporation by revenue, as well as the biggest private employer in the world. Sam Walton was the richest person in the United States for many years and probably, at some point, the richest man in the world. His family has remained the richest family in the United States for several consecutive years, with a net worth of around $240 billion billion as of January 2022.
Speaker 2:In 1992, at the age of 74, walton died of blood cancer and was put to rest in the Bentonville Cemetery in his longtime home of Bentonville, arkansas, walton supported various charitable causes. He and Helen, his wife, were active in the First Presbyterian Church in Bentonville. Sam served as an elder and a Sunday school teacher teaching high school age students. The family made substantial contributions to the congregation and other philanthropic endeavors. He worked the concept of service leadership into the corporate structure of Walmart, based on the concept of Christ being a servant leader, and emphasized the importance of serving others based on his Christian faith, and he demonstrated that to me that very day.
Speaker 2:I don't know who you've met along the way. Maybe you knew who they were, maybe you didn't, but look back over your life at the encounters with people that surprised you, where you had presumed or assumed in the worst possible sense who and what they might be thinking the worst, not the best Only to find out they were prominent, but they were humble, they were simple, they were a common person on so many different levels. Money, riches, fame had not changed them and you were astonished by the genuine, authentic nature of who they were. This is Lyndon Wolfe, and you've been listening to here for the Memories. So glad you joined and I hope that as you look back upon those unique experiences or encounters with people that changed your perception of humanity, that you will have more in the future Positive experiences that will make you think more and better of the race that you are a participant a small contribution Just go to buymeacoffeecom slash here for the memories.
Speaker 1:That's buymeacoffeecom slash here for the memories, much appreciated.
