Our actions are so important. If we walk around acting like we are the only things that matter and that because of who we are or where we may come from we are somehow better than someone else then we are going to find ourselves without many friends.
I had two experiences today that tie together around this point. There was a couple that came in to the LBH. I am always grateful to see people walk in the door and we really want to treat them well and make them customers for life. I was doing what I normally do in welcoming them. Instead of ordering right away they went and sat down to look at the menu. I observed them from behind the counter and listened to them belittle our sandwiches and make fun of our establishment and the people of Utah in general. Anyway they placed their order which included a sandwich to share and soup, also to share. I asked if they wanted a bowl or a cup of soup. They wanted the bowl but it was to share. I explained that the bowl was 16 oz. and that we would simply split it up into two 8 oz servings for them. Everything was fine.
Well, we delivered the sandwiches and soup. Almost immediately the guy begins to complain. He started off by talking to Dave about the amount of meat on the sandwich and that I said it was going to be 16 oz. He came up to me a minute of so later and made some nasty comment and it clicked that he mistook our conversation about the oz of soup. Anyway, he started to act out and was being fairly rude. He got Dave's attention and started complaining about "who would talk about the oz. of soup?..." He was going on and then I ended up at the front register and he focuses on me and starts up with a bunch of comments. He is shaking his head, laughing at me, pointing to his head while inferring that I was mental.
Normally if someone were to complain (and I can probably count on two fingers the number of complaints we've had about our food) I or we would do whatever it takes to make them happy. With the way this guy was acting I determined that I was not going to help him. Maybe that was childish of me. I was actually thinking about what I could do and felt that no, we don't cast our pearls before swine. Dave and I talked about it and were both of the opinion that it wouldn't matter what we did the guy was going complain. I don't know, I guess I just don't have it in me to act that way. In the end they had eaten every scrap of food that we took out to them though he was kind enough to say thank you and compliment us on our chips in an extremely snotty tone. When someone carries on like that and tries to put on a show we decided that what we will do is simply give them there money back and invite them to leave. Is that harsh?
I go back to a point I was making earlier. Had this gentlemen spoken to be a little differently. Had he not acted like a spoiled child I would have done whatever it took to make him happy.
After arriving at home this evening I was working on dinner and had Jack in the other room watching The Muppet's. I know that Jack likes beef jerky and I had a few scraps left in a bag so I put them in a bowl and handed it to him. Later he called me into the living room and said "Dad, you are the best dad ever" and he gave me a thumbs up. He then asked if he could have a little more beef jerky. I explained that what I gave him was all that was in the bag. Then I said "I think I have another bag, let me see what I can get you". Jack gets it. Hit them with a sincere compliment and then invite them to do something, respectfully of course. Nice work Jack. That is definitely a much more effective approach to winning friends.
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