When Our Blemishes Become Assets

The story is told of a friend by the name of Webb Young. Webb Young grew beautiful apples, and he advertised them to a very select clientele as "perfect." One year just before time to harvest his apples, a heavy hail storm came. It did not harm the apples, but it left unsightly brown spots on them. He felt hopelessly defeated. He could not afford to send his apples out with those brown spots on them.

A lesser man would have given up, but he kept thinking until he came up with a saving idea. He harvested the apples and packed them in boxes, as he normally did. Then in each box he placed a card which stated that these apples were grown in high altitude and that the chill of the mountain made the apples firm. He also explained that in these high altitudes they often have hail storms. Then he said that if one will look closely at the apples, hail marks upon them can be observed. It is a matter of record that the next year the overwhelming majority of his orders were for "hail-marked" apples.

For Webb Young and his apples-the blemishes became assets.