“Our standard is giving more than what is expected”
Greetings, life-changer nation, and thank you for reading this week! I have just returned from a one-week vacation and had a great time, but it is great to be back serving and doing my part to help us all change lives around the world.
I was fortunate this last week to be on a great vacation in Clearwater, Florida, with my beautiful family and to stay at a nice resort. With this week’s core value spotlight being about higher standards than expected, there is so much I can write about.
The resort was definitely more than what we expected, and so was the beach! The staff was awesome, the spa was great, and even the gym was better than I expected, but this week I am not writing about any of those things; instead, I am writing about a waitress named Faith.
Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, we had breakfast at our resort hotel restaurant. It was a holiday weekend, and it was very busy at the resort and the restaurant there. There was obviously not enough staff, but it seems everyone has that problem right now, no matter where you go.
On this particular morning, you could feel the stress in the air. The hostess reminded us how busy they were, the manager did the same, and the waitress (Faith) also reminded us that she was personally busy when she greeted us and said she would try to get to us as soon as she could. She also seemed tired, along with the obvious stress she was under.
After several minutes she finally took our drink orders and left to get them. She did not return for several minutes, and when she did, she was missing one glass of orange juice that we ordered. After realizing that she had forgotten the orange juice, she started to apologize and get frustrated with herself. We reminded her that it was okay and we were not in a hurry and told her not to worry.
I could see her stop at three other tables on the way to get the missing orange juice for us, and it was not pretty. One table reminded her she had screwed up their order, the other said they were still waiting for a coffee refill, and the third got up and had left because they were not getting served fast enough.
I felt so bad for her as I witnessed this and could not help but think that people should be nicer and more aware of what people are going through. I mean, this young lady was serving us and trying her best, and she was definitely not being rude, so why be rude to her, I thought.
When she finally returned with the orange juice, she was obviously very stressed and already emotional, and her eyes had a few tears trapped in them but not for long. A few seconds later, almost predictably, the glass of orange juice fell over in her tray and spilled all over her shirt, her pants and shoes, and the floor. It did NOT spill on us or even on our table, and the glass didn’t even break.
She really had no reason to be sorry, but she immediately proclaimed, “I’m sorry, I am so sorry,” and the tears began to fall from her eyes so quickly and profusely. We were so sad for her. We immediately all told her it was okay, and accidents happen. We reminded her that she did not spill anything on us and that nobody got hurt, and we were not mad. She seemed to feel a little better but not much; it was obvious she was just not having a great day, and if I had to guess by the look on her face, she probably just wanted to go home! The most unbelievable part was that not one co-worker or even the manager came to her rescue, Faith was on her own to handle this one.
We have all been there, and I could relate. Sometimes things just seem like they will never get better, and we give up hope, just like Faith did as she started to cry. Her tears were not only out of frustration and a sense of failure but also out of hopelessness. When we feel like there is no hope, we just want to give up, but sometimes someone else gives us hope!
We all stood out of our chairs and sprung into action! My Wife Christina gave her a hug and told her it was okay, and started grabbing napkins and wiping the juice off the floor. My daughters grabbed more napkins and helped Faith wipe her shirt and pants, and I was there to immediately make eye contact with her and remind her that she was amazing and we all have accidents, and I had personally dropped stuff 100 times in my life.
Faith started to feel better, and she began to calm down. This made us all feel better, too, and the fact that she now had hope that the day could get better made her sorta smile. It’s amazing what giving someone more than what they expect can do for them. Within minutes she seemed to relax and feel better, and the rest of the breakfast was perfect, and she did a great job.
After breakfast was over, she cried again but not because she had made a mistake. She cried because we gave her a very large tip and told her that she was a good person and that God loved her and he was going to continue to bless her. I, of course, also had to add one more thing. I looked into her eyes and told her, “Faith, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and I am sure the rest of your day is gonna be great, don’t ever give up on the day, God bless you!”
I am not telling this story to brag about the tip or even about the kindness and empathy we expressed to Faith but rather for the following two reasons. One reason is to remind you that when you give people more than what they expect, you can really provide them with hope and even make them happy. The second reason is that sometimes we meet people and have only one interaction with them, and maybe that one interaction changes them for the rest of their life.
I most likely will never see Faith again, but I am confident that Faith may have had her faith in humanity restored on that day. Maybe she decided not to quit her job; maybe she decided to help another human, like a friend or family member, do something because she was inspired. I really don’t know and might never know, but how special is it to know that one gesture, smile, or kind word can impact someone for the rest of their life? It’s very powerful when you think about it that way.
I challenge all of you to love one another, even strangers, and please give everyone around you more than what is expected! It provides that person with hope, and it gives me hope that we can change the world with love! God bless you for reading this; I hope it blessed you, and I hope you have a restored hope that the human spirit is alive and well and that there are good people everywhere that just want to do good, just like you!
Have a great week!
