"Pasta and Hugs"

Harry Geist of ChartHouse Learning shares the following story:

On my birthday a couple of years ago, my wife, kids and in-laws took me to an Italian restaurant known for its festive environment. Our waitress was a young woman named Karen. She had a warm, vivacious personality, and a sixth sense for when we needed her. She was a great waitress. But it was after our food had arrived that Karen created a memorable and delightful moment for us.

This was the type of restaurant where the food is served family style and you pass it around the table. Karen came up to our table and noticed that my girls, who were six and eight years old at the time, only had bread on their plates. My girls are not very experimental when it comes to spicy Italian food. Karen got down on her knees, put her arms around the girl’s shoulders and whispered to them, “What would you girls really like”? The girls thought for a moment and then whispered back, “We like plain noodles and butter.” With a twinkle in her eye Karen whispered, “I’ll be right back.” Less then five minutes later Karen returned to our table carrying two silver bowls, heaped with plain pasta noodles with pads of butter melting on them. My girls beamed as Karen set the bowls in front of them, and they each gave Karen a big hug.

Every facet of the FISH! Philosophy was on display during Karen’s interaction with the girls. Through her choice to Be There for us, Karen saw the opportunity to playfully and creatively make the girls’ day. Karen clearly chose an attitude of positive engagement to work with her that day. I suspect Karen had created many similar experiences with previous patrons, and that these experiences made it easy for Karen to choose a positive attitude and have more fun at work.

By living the FISH! Philosophy, Karen left us with a special memory of herself and the restaurant.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

A FISH! attitude and making others day seemed to come naturally to Karen. It’s not always so automatic: What can you do to remind yourself to choose a FISH! attitude as you go about your day?

"Pasta and Hugs"

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