(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners do their best to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance during their interactions with people. Many people feel their upright behavior can be a role model for society. I’d like to share the story of the challenges I faced as a warehouse custodian, and how following Falun Dafa’s principles helped me and the people around me.
Some coworkers were jealous of my outstanding work and pushed me out of my job, so I went to a another company. The leadership quietly assigned me to be a warehouse custodian. My new company had already hired custodians before I arrived, and because these positions were sought after they were usually given to relatives of the company leadership. Since these relatives did not want to lose their jobs to me, they kept mum and did not tell me how things were done. I kept myself busy with other tasks. When I found out about this later, my heart was not moved.
Although I’m older and have more experience than most of my coworkers, I did not put on any airs. When the young people needed me, they came to me for help. Practicing Falun Dafa gave me wisdom, in technical issues and in other matters. The coworkers gradually began consulting me about challenging situations. Soon, everyone knew that I was technically sound, serious, responsible, and could endure hardship. No matter what the problem was, they felt it was best if I took care of it. Some said that I knew how to deal with almost every kind of problem.
The contractors feel they have some knowledge, so they usually don’t listen to our instructions. They made a mess while dismantling some high-altitude safety barricades, but the fines were not executed and no one cared when problems were raised. Working high above the ground is very dangerous, so it is a huge responsibility to take care of the safety issues. There are hidden dangers everywhere. Upper management had already received many complaints and the person in charge of safety was transferred to another department. The safety director from headquarters recommended that I handle these issues. I went to the site every day, and whenever they started dismantling the barricades, I followed behind and personally reinstalled them. The situation gradually improved.
Every time there was a meeting the manager gave a round of criticism but then complimented me. This manager had a rather eccentric temperament. He was very skeptical about me initially. Later, I thought perhaps he thought upper management placed me there to manage the materials, but in fact, I was there to monitor him. In order to avoid suspicion and jealousy among my coworkers, I kept a low profile. He eventually went from being skeptical to acknowledging my abilities. Finally, he was so full of admiration that he kept praising me in front of other people. He said that some companies were not willing to take me because I was a Falun Dafa practitioner, but now everyone was vying to hire me.
Being Assigned to Manage the Warehouse
A year later, the manager’s brother-in-law went to collect goods, but a few thousand yuan worth of items went missing during the process. The manager fired him and asked me to manage the warehouse. Before leaving, his brother-in-law was very angry and refused to hand anything over to me, so I had to start from scratch. My coworkers were very helpful, so I quickly became familiar with the job requirements. The manager’s brother-in-law later returned and I treated him well.
There were other issues in the company, and my coworkers habitually called me to help settle them. I distributed my time and settled the problems. When there was nothing much for me to do, I tidied up all the old goods. In the past, if workers could not find things, or they forgot where they stored them, they just bought new ones. I sorted through all the materials and categorized them so that those that could still be used were gradually used up. The manager initially complained that everything was a mess, and he was very unhappy, but I did not argue with him. After I tidied everything up, he took a look and stopped complaining. Whenever there were problems, he came and asked me, and I gave him answers. He gradually came to fully trust me.
Dealing with Contractors
Some suppliers and contractors are very rude and unreasonable, and some are very hard to manage. The manager was also very troubled by them, but he had no solutions. The manager is a very meticulous man. His demands on everyone are relatively harsh. Eventually, the workers stopped trying to correct him, and just let him scold them. Then they continued doing things their way. I just tried my best to get things done.
Take for example the materials. The contractors often asked us to buy extra materials. However, there are all sorts of materials at the site. The main contractors’ work is subbed out to layers of sub-contractors, so they do not come to the site personally. Some of the workers were replaced after a while, so the new workers didn’t know about the history of their work. They also did not listen to our requests. If we fined them, the fines were dismissed if one of the upper management said a word. The contractors were not afraid of us. If we were to purchase the materials based on their requests, there would definitely be wastage.
I spent some time organizing the site. Every time we needed to report the materials, I went to the site and checked, then deducted these materials before finalizing the amount that needed to be ordered. The accountants checked the quantity again after my check, so the final order was very detailed. Materials that were over-purchased were returned to the supplier. By cooperating this way, by the time the project was completed, there was little waste in terms of supplies and money spent.
Carefully Checking Purchased Materials
Because we purchase many types of materials it was not easy to differentiate the model numbers for some of them. Other companies’ warehouse keepers just sign but don’t look into it. I check every item before I sign anything.
One supplier is very careful when he sends us materials. He seldom adds anything extra and double checks the amounts himself. Once when he finished unloading his goods and went to the next company, I counted the delivery and discovered that he accidentally gave us a few thousand yuan worth of goods that we hadn’t ordered. I called him and asked him to come back and get them. Since then, he’s trusted me. On another occasion a driver delivered extra items. I asked him to come back and return them to the supplier. However, since he was only a driver he was reluctant to care about the supplier’s business. Seeing that I was serious about my work, he was touched.
For those who deliver rebar (reinforcement steel), I watch them very closely. Twice I discovered that we were short nearly ten thousand yuan worth of goods, so I began doing random checks more frequently. I once checked the quantity with the delivery man eight times before they finally agreed to fulfill their agreement. Some small orders are not easy to check. For this kind of order, I get a laboratory precision scale, pick out a unit to measure the weight and calculate the total amount from that.
Electrical cables are the easiest items to steal. The workers can just roll the cables up in their clothes, or put them in their bags. The manager complained about this and wanted me to check their bags every day. I asked them to return all the leftovers every day and set up a ledger to record how much work was done every day, how much was collected, how much was returned, and how much was left in storage. This also helped me to see which materials were running out that I would need to replenish. They were all influenced by my serious work attitude. Although I never checked their bags even once, by the end of the project, the total amount of electric cables that were used was a few thousand yuan less than the projected amount.
Things are often lost at the site, so the manager asked me to make many doors. Every day, I’m the last to leave because I need to lock every one of them. In the morning, I had to come early to unlock every door. After I finish collecting the goods, no matter how late it is, I transfer them to the storage area and lock them up. In this way, incidents of losing things no longer happen at our site. The manager also put me in charge of preventing theft at the site. I need to check the entrances and the things inside, the corridor doors, storage room doors, etc. So far, we have not met with any issues.
I gradually became the person that everyone trusted the most.
Declining Gifts from Contractors
The situation starts changing when one has authority. The main contractors began sending me gifts. However, I declined all of them. When I helped unload their goods, a boss gave me a box of cigarettes but I declined. She took the opportunity when I wasn’t looking to hide the cigarettes inside the papers. I rushed out and placed it on the top of her car. I told her that I knew that she wanted to thank me for helping her, but I did not accept gifts. I also received alcohol and other things of this sort, but I sent them all back. During the pandemic, pork was very expensive. A main contractor gave each of us more than 5 kg. (11 lb.) of pork. The assistant manager asked me why I cared so much, and that I should just accept it. But I insisted that I wouldn’t accept it.
Prepared Well for the Flood Season
Before the flood season, I went through a drill and made arrangements for everything. Things that are easily washed away, like foam rubber, were moved from the yard into the building. Bamboo ladders were tied to the pillars, and electrical appliances were placed in higher locations. In the end, a mass flood that occurs only once in a few decades happened and I immediately placed all the electrical tools and account books in my car and moved them. In this way, no valuable items were damaged and the electrical tools that were worth a few thousand yuan all remained intact. Things like the big hosting table and the toilet partition walls were damaged from being soaked in floodwater. They were all deformed after they dried. Buying a new table would require more than a thousand yuan and the manager felt that was too wasteful. However, as leaders from all levels will often come to conduct checks and inspections, the damaged items made us look bad. So I repaired them. The materials were recycled and everyone had many compliments.
Handling Tough Tasks with Compassion
Practitioners have compassion, but we do not resign ourselves to adversity. Once, the manager forcibly dug out someone else’s tree. Thinking that I was easy to talk to, he asked me to settle the issue, but I declined. A brother company wanted to borrow our electricity to pump water. Normally, we would separately install an electric meter for them, but our side also uses this electricity to pump rain water.
The manager was thinking of collecting the full amount of electrical fees from them, but he felt that it would not be easy, so he asked me to do it. I told their electrician that we are all employees, and if I were to force him to sign it, it would be hard for him to account for it. I said, “Let us check the electric meter and let the managers discuss how they want to share the costs.” In this way, not only was there no conflict between both parties, the electrician and I became good friends.
In China’s current corrupt environment, many people are confused. People no longer trust each other. Everything must be checked and monitored by both parties. Even the monitoring people need to be monitored. After that, they will extend the monitoring to management. There are loopholes everywhere. By contrast, Falun Dafa practitioners display pure truthfulness and kindness from the bottom of their hearts, plus the wisdom that Dafa bestows on us. Many people feel that practitioners are role models.
I hope that all people can be free from the harm caused by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) lies, and respect Dafa and practitioners. They will be able to avoid the dangers lurking everywhere. I hope that people can cherish this opportunity and choose a wonderful future.
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