I recently had the pleasure of travelling to meet hundreds of like-minded individuals and as part of this adventure, we all went out for dinner together (I know) at a restaurant that (I daresay) is not used to receiving parties of this size routinely.
We blew them away.
The kitchen went under in about thirty seconds. We learned that the staff that was desperately trying to prepare our food was all brand new.
Talk about trial by fire!
As a former restaurant manager and former graduate nurse, I was no stranger to this sink or swim indoctrination into a new job. It’s no fun, but one silver lining for both employer and employee is this: it often works. You know pretty quick who is cut out for the job and who is not.
Anyway, I was so proud of my group! We could see how hard they were all working to serve us, to keep their heads above water. How hard they were trying to get us what we needed as quick as they could under what was probably the most adverse conditions most of them had ever encountered on the job.
They didn’t think about themselves. They thought about us.
A friend, Chris, pointed out that this reminded him of a quote:
BE KIND, FOR EVERYONE YOU MEET IS FIGHTING A HARD BATTLE. –Socrates
All of us were kind, patient, and used one of our secret weapons, humor, to keep this evening fun and productive. (Spoiler alert: We didn’t starve!) They kept at it until everyone was taken care of. They did their best, and isn’t that something we all aspire to? By them giving us this gift, we all received another gift.
The gift of community.
As we in the ‘audience’ observed and discussed ‘the performance’, we all learned more about each other (not to mention about ourselves).
Today’s actionable: “Give everyone the benefit of the doubt today…” ~Lori Deschene, Tiny Buddha’s 365 Tiny Love Challenges
Also, I have to say that I had one of the best bowls of soup I have ever had in my life at that restaurant!
Here are some other photos from the dinner:
Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker 