Jaden’s word is tolerant. His definition of the word is putting up with something that you should not have to put up with. When asked for an instance of him being tolerant towards something, he had an immediate story come to mind.
One summer, Jaden was working at a bar in Okoboji. He had a manager there who constantly disrespected him, swore at him, and when he was not around, she would talk bad about him. She was his boss, so he was mindful of her, but whenever he had to speak with her, he could tell that she just didn’t like him.
He thinks that she did not like him because he was young, quiet, didn’t have much experience in the field, and that job was not his priority. It was the summer, and he was busy with other things. So, he could not work as often as she is like him to work. Even while he was busy with other activities, he worked over 40 hours a week.
Now, that time in Jaden’s life is over, but because of that, he has grown as a person. Before he would just stay quiet and to himself about things that bothered him. Now, he chooses to stand up for himself and to speak his mind. Rather than sit through things that make him unhappy.
If you removed the first graf, and people just read the description of Jaden’s boss and his reaction to her, would they get “tolerant.” If the answer is yes, you succeeeded.
Should this be, Jaden used to be tolerant? He was, but now he doesn’t put up with crap. I think just an expansion of the second graf, how he responded to her animosity, would make a complete anecdote: “… she just didn’t like him. Jaden would smile and go about his job. And she was doing her job… just not very well.”