Lately, I’ve spent some time thinking about what really matters and I’m struck by something that many of you may well have known your entire life. It really is the little things that matter.Earlier this week, I met a friend for lunch. We went to a popular local restaurant because we like the chips they serve as an appetizer before the meal. The person who seated us obviously did not care whether we were there or not. He asked us how many for lunch, grabbed our stuff and by the time we reached the table, he had dropped off the menus and was long gone. We discussed leaving, decided that would be too much trouble and just stayed. Let me be clear, the meal was very good, but at the end of the experience, all I could really remember was the manner in which we had been treated at the beginning of lunch. It is the little things.
Those who know me well, know that I love QuikTrip. I believe they are champions of the little things. Think about the last time you were in one of their stores. When you walked in the door did someone say “Hi” to you? If you used their coffee machine or got a fountain drink were the machines clean? If you went to the bathroom was it is excellent shape? Did you notice that they spend extra money on good lids for their fountain drinks, and extra money to score them so that a straw goes in without crushing it? Is their food always the temperature it should be? It is all of the little things that they do so well.
So, if you agree with me that it really is the little things which matter, what can you and I do about it? Here are some things to consider. You might already do some of these regularly, but today, try to do something new. Remember to smile, too. You can make someone’s day a bit nicer. At the same time you might make yours nicer as well.
- Hold the door for someone for no particular reason.
- Slow down and let the merging car into the flow of traffic rather than trying to cut them off.
- Clear the table and wash the dishes even though it is not “your turn.”
- Allow someone to step in front of you in the checkout line at the grocery store
- Call a friend out of the blue just to tell them that you miss them or are thinking about them.
- Say “Good Morning” (or Good Afternoon or just hello) to someone you don’t know.
We live in a world that continues to get more and more high tech all the time and it's easy to rely on that to do everything for us, but what really matters to people are the little things which happen between two human beings. Take the time in the next few days to bring an unexpected smile to someone’s face. It will do a lot for them, and it won’t hurt you in the least either. Take care of each other. After all, things whether big or little, are not at all important, people are.
