A man purchased a newspaper at a newsstand every day. He always greeted the vendor very courteously, but in return received very gruff and discourteous service. The vendor would rudely shove the newspaper in his face. The man, however, would politely smile and wish him a nice day. This went on for several days until a friend asked, ‘Does he always treat you this rudely?’ The man replied, ‘Unfortunately, he does.’ The friend asked, ‘Are you always so friendly and polite to him?’ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘always’. The questioner continued, ‘Why are you so nice to him when he’s so rude to you?’ And the man replied, ‘Because I don’t want him to decide my attitude or how I am going to act.’

Source: The UCB Word For Today, 8/05/2016