The people behind the glass

I think that Hashem created little sibs so we can learn to be nice and men behind the cash register so we can learn to be rude.
Following a conversation I had with a friend the other day, I was very cognizant of male gestures and conversational flirting. So when the fellow behind the counter at Starbucks leaned forward with a big smile, looked me in the eye, and droned "How's your day going?" I was prepared. And as he questioned what I was studying and what my major was, I remained extremely curt. And as he continued his attempt at conversation, I was reminded of the training psychology interns receive. Seated in a room with a patient, they are observed by a class of students hiding behind a one-way glass. In my mind, I saw that one way glass. And in my mind, as I attempted to avoid all conversation (much as the friendly me wanted to rebel) I imagined that room full of people watching me from behind the glass. And as I remained curt, hard as it was, I knew they were cheering me on.
The power of knowing, of imagining the people behind the glass. Liutenant Birnbaum, before being sent into the army, was fortified with a similar parable. His moreh derech advised him to view his life as a baseball game. In the audience stood Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe Rabbeinu, and all his anscestors. As he faced the pitcher they stood watching. Would he hit the ball? Would he win the game they had fought and now he was to fight? And every hit he took, they all cheered. All the generations of gedolim; they all had their eyes pinned on him. During all his years in the army, Lt. Birnbaum remembered. Remembered who was watching, who was waiting for him to succeed. Who was hoping to cheer and would be let down if he failed. Through all the challenges, he was guided by the Men in the Bleachers.
Yosef HaTzaddik, the one who set out the path for those of us in exile, utalized this same strategy. When confronted by the powerful challenge of fighting off the temptation of Potifar's wife, he imagined his father. He imagined Yaakov standing before him, and he didn't sin.
Yosef saw his father there, watching him. Lt. Birnbaum knew, all his years alone in the American army, that the bleachers were filled of generations watching him play the game of life. And now, as I stand there facing the cashier in Starbucks, can I remember the people watching? Can I see that one way glass, can I remember the people behind the glass; and act different?