Today’s reminder involves a man who was picking up his family’s dinner on a Friday night from a take-out Italian restaurant in Boynton Beach, Florida. I don’t know the man personally but I found him to be a breath of fresh air.
I arrived at the restaurant only to see 20 people milling around the parking lot waiting for their take-out order to be called. My first thought was how pleased I was that this establishment was busy during this time of crisis. The fact that the pizza ovens were backlogged and the forecasted 30-minute wait was turning into a 60-minute heel-cooling session was over-looked due to the current situation.
To make sure I heard my name called I elected to sit up close to the counter, a full ten feet from anybody with a mask. That is when I spotted two pizza boxes and a bag full of food being carried out to he parking lot. I heard the man behind the counter say, ”Gino, this is already paid for.” Gino carried the freight to the door and out to the curb.
In what seemed like a blink of an eye the customer was carrying the food back through the door and back to the counter. I had a front row seat and was getting ready for the “show.” The customer put the two boxes and bag of food on the counter and reached for his wallet. “I have not paid for this yet,” he offered.
I asked myself, how many people would have taken this oversight as a sign from heaven and elected to scoot to their car thinking they have just beat the system? (Not you, I hope, and definitively not me.)
After signing his credit card receipt and picking up his food order again, he turned and I caught his eye. “Good for you,” I said. He smiled at me. Said “thank you,” and headed for home.
Two lessons emerge from my Friday night observation. (1) There are still a handful of honest people in our whacked-out, fast-paced, self-absorbed, out-of-balanced world. (2) You are being watched everyday to see if you actually walk your talk. You may never know they are watching and making judgment calls, but you are being watched.
Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club. Send for details.
