The Question on the Quiz
During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. “Absolutely,” the professor said. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.
– JoAnn C. Jones, Guideposts
Seen on Facebook, originally posted by Senator Corey Booker (NJ, Dem), shared by R Moshe Yehuda Gluck (Lakewood, don’t know his party affiliation).
Quite frankly I think the question should have been, “What is the last name of the woman who cleans the school? Addressing her as Miss or Ms or Mrs. shows more respect than addressing her by her first name. Also in some Orthodox circles men and women who are not related never refer to each other by their first names. It fosters a certain distance which is deemed proper.