There was no reason for the head flight attendant to humiliate that Filipino elderly lady by having her read out loud from the safety card — after she was repeatedly told in English by the lady that she could read and speak English.

The attendant’s excuse, after a perturbed gentleman confronted her was, “I wanted to see if she was telling the truth.”

What truth was she looking for?

I recall a life encounter with injustice, in which a group of dishonest individuals caused me to be fired from my job.

I completed my daily tasks of mowing and manicuring nine of the 18 greens of this private golf course. It was around 11:50 a.m. and I was preparing for a lunch break.

After loading up my crew (the lawn mower, rake and broom), I got a drink of water from my water igloo to cool off and dust off before heading to the garage. Four club members went by as they were going from the ninth hole to the tenth. I saw them and they acknowledged my friendly wave. Ten minutes later I was fired from my job.

The boss calls me to his office. “Hinojos, you are one of the best at cutting greens, but today is your last day,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Are they closing the golf course?”

I was just a kid. What did I know about getting fired?

“Hinojos, I have to do this, as difficult as it is and as much as I know that it is not true.”

“What truth?” I asked.

He had received a phone call from the golf course clubhouse. Some club members said that there was a lazy Mexican sleeping under the tree. I wasn’t given the opportunity to prove that I was wrongly accused. I was unjustly told, “you’re fired!”

Now years later, we still have similar irresponsible prejudicial behaviors. It is unfortunate that these individuals somehow get away with it. Their due medicine of discipline either gets diluted to where it has no feeling of pain, or it just gets swept under the old dirty carpet of injustice.

So whether it be doing your job earning millions, cutting greens, sitting in the emergency row in the plane or just enjoying the fruits of your hard work — anyone who commits fraud against the American system and its people should be held responsible. But also, if a person is an honest, responsible person with integrity, and respects others, then doggone it, respect them too.

We may have invented that wonderful tool called the “shop vac,” which vacuums both water and dirt. But at the end, the filter still needs to be cleaned or changed.

“We are the sum of our actions and therefore our habits make all difference. Whatever we learn to do, we learn it by actually doing it,” Aristotle said.

Also remember the old saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” It is often the empty cart that squeaks the loudest.