Page 77 - 聖方濟各英文小學（學校雜誌）

English

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

6D Ng Hang Yu

“Again? When can you learn to submit your homework on time, Robert?” the teacher asked Robert
furiously. He had never ever submitted his homewok on time. “I… I am very sorry,” Robert lowered his head
and answered with guilt.
Twenty years passed by.

In the office, the boss was shouting impatiently, knocking his fists on the table, “Where is your report,
Robert? Don’t tell me you forgot it again!”

“I will submit it … tomorrow,” Robert bit his lips and his eyes became watery.
“Tomorrow… tomorrow! Yesterday, you said the same thing to me, didn’t you? If you were writing a report
that was indispensable to the company, you would have been fired already. But of course I would never give
you a chance to do anything other than write rubbish reports for me,” the boss taunted.

Another twenty years have passed. Robert was still a severe ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) sufferer and
had become a procrastinator. He could not stop himself from procrastinating and could not focus on his work.
Nonetheless, he told everyone that he could meet all the deadlines of his work when what he actually did was
miss all of them.
It turned out that, no one trusted or liked him. When his colleagues or relatives talked about Robert, they
would say “that procrastinator”, ‘Mr. Liar”, or usually “all I have for him is hatred”.
Robert wanted to change his bad habit so badly. However, he could not even think about it as he had no
support from others and his ADD condition wouldn’t allow him to do that. What he could do was only keep
lying, feeling guilty and procrastinate. He knew he had to stop. He thought, “I will stop procrastinating very
soon. I will show you that I can finish my work,” Robert bragged to Sam one day. Still, sadly, words might not
be enough for Robert to prove himself.
One day, finally, when he had received his second warning letter from the boss of his sixteenth job, he
decided to end the lie. He called a doctor for help without hesitating for the first time.
After having been through a huge struggle, fortunately, Robert started to be able to control himself and
finish his work on time for the first time. Step by step. He even became the most effective and productive
worker in the company.
“Robert! What an excellent job you have done!” Today, for the first time, his work was acclaimed by his
boss and he felt as part of the team.
Robert had finally proven himself through actions. He could finally smile and look into others’ eyes without
feeling guilty. Actions speak louder than words.

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