INSPIRASUNS

Last night my husband and I made our way to one of our favorite local restaurants. As you can probably imagine there are tons of them in our city, (it’s grown into a city I think), many are chain establishments but there are so many local places it’s sometimes hard to choose. Anyway, last night we enjoyed a libation and an early dinner at a place not far from the beach. Unfortunately, it’s still a little too warm and they didn’t have their outside bar open yet, so inside we sat.

What I noticed last night as my husband and I chatted and people-watched, was the way the team at the restaurant interacted with everyone. The bartender who was taking care of us was new to the restaurant, actually, she might have even been new to the area. She was introducing herself to patrons as they came in and had a seat at the bar. The couple next to me even asked her, “You’re new here aren’t you?”. I thought we had visited this restaurant quite a bit, but alas there were many in the place last night that were obviously “regulars”. Anyway, all of the team in this place were on point, from the manager on down. They were chatting with customers, welcoming people back from being away, and even hugs were seen.

I realized that the team in this restaurant is what made it work. They were happy, they enjoyed what they were doing and it showed. They made our experience and the experience of others pleasant. When my food order came, there was a minor mistake, I noticed it right away and asked the server to please remove the onions. The bartender immediately came over and intervened saying it was totally her fault and apologized to not only me but to the server who brought my food. Wow, now that was something. What, she wasn’t just going to blame the kitchen team for messing it up? She took ownership AND apologized to the customer and to her team members for making the error.

It was just an enjoyable time last night and I’m thankful for the dedication and commitment this team had to making the experience nice for their customers. It’s hard these days to find team members who first want to work, and then want to do a good job and service to others. I don’t know what their secret is in this establishment but whatever it is, it works, they make it work.

Much could be learned from this team last night. The kindness shared with a smile, the taking the time to recognize individuals, the ownership of a mistake, the opportunity to correct a mistake, the belief that service is a gift, all of these things were on display last night. I think in general our world could learn from this establishment.

Friends, if you are out and about this weekend and you visit a local restaurant, grocery store, dry cleaners, whatever the place, be sure to thank the team that makes it work. Let them know you appreciate what they do. You never know, you might just be the only person that says thank you that day!

Have a wonderful Saturday my friends 🙂 .

Galatians 5:13
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.