![]() ![]() Her forgiveness earned my loyalty and respect. I was bought in from that day, and I did my best to represent myself and the company well throughout each interaction. You can win more people over by forgiving them than administering the punishment they know they deserve. She forgave me for what should have been an easily-avoidable mistake and inadvertently taught me a lesson about forgiveness. Instead, she asked me what happened, then told me to be more careful in the future. I later walked in her office fully expecting to be written up and charged for several meals for this mistake. As expected, the manager on duty (and owner) was not very happy with me. Several customers requested free meals and other accomodations to make up for their salty surprise. It reminded me of my first time wrestling with my brothers in the Atlantic Ocean. ![]() That is when one of the customers yelled, “this is salty, and I’m a diabetic!” If you haven’t figured it out by now, I put about two giant scoops of salt in the “sweet tea.” I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t tasted it myself. I am sure it was only about four or five customers, but to me, it seemed like the entire restaurant was about to start a riot. I made a huge mistake.īefore long, everyone in the restaurant who previously had a taste for sweet tea was now waving their glass in the air while making a disgusted face. About five minutes later, one customer stopped me to tell me her tea did not taste right… Then another… Then another. Once I opened the second container, I observed the white granular content within and proceeded to scoop it into my buckets. The first container I opened was completely empty, so I quickly moved on to the second container. As I had done numerous times before, I grabbed two buckets and headed to grab sugar. Well, it was my turn to make some more sweet tea. I remember it like it was yesterday: the team and I were working hard to keep customers satisfied–refilling drinks, busing tables, serving orders etc. Remember those busy “crab leg nights” I mentioned? Funny story: I actually made a pretty big mistake during one of the busiest crab leg nights I’ve ever worked. That day I took an oath to never allow myself to become so consumed by my own self-worth that I am unable to willingly and cheerfully serve others. My conclusion was that I was frustrated because I felt this kind of work was “beneath me.” That was a red flag because it was contradictory to my can do, blue-collar philosophy. Even so, I had to question why I was getting frustrated with these type of customers who made up a very small percentage of the customers I served. Of course there was nothing wrong with “crab leg night” in general however, some customers really tested how far my attitude of servitude would stretch! They tested my humility!Ĭustomers complained about prices, questioned me about the quality of the food, threw crab legs on the floor, left a $0.27 tip, and truly tested my humility. Aside from holidays like Mother’s Day, these were by far the busiest shifts. I always envisioned I would use that blue-collar mentality to become the leader known for rolling up his sleeves and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his constituents to get the job done.Įven so, there was a part of my job as a server that completely humbled me–“crab leg night.” On “crab leg night,” we added crab legs and other seafood items to the buffet. Like seriously, I worked on a chicken farm in high school. I always considered myself a hard-working guy who does not mind getting dirty. Servitude is not about degrading the servant’s self-esteem as I previously believed instead, it is about putting another’s needs before your own to create an environment where everyone can grow, develop, and thrive. ![]() In fact, I learned that servitude is one of every successful organization’s core values, and it is one of each inspirational leader’s foundational principles. I often quipped, “I work and study hard, so I am no one’s servant!” It wasn’t until later that I truly understood and began to appreciate how important servitude is. I preferred to be called a “waiter” because “server” felt degrading, demeaning, and humiliating. My old job in Ruston, LA Wearing my “I determine my own destiny” t-shirt! Embrace Servitude.Īlthough my name tag introduced me as a “server,” I absolutely hated that label.
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