Owl With Glasses

Both today and yesterday I was reminded of a very important message that I hold dear to my heart but sometimes it slips my mind. Fortunately, the fact that I forget every now and then can be a good thing because it keeps me guessing and constantly surprised about the people I meet.

"Expect the unexpected," or, "Never place someone in a box," would be another good way to put it.

Interesting little post here that I read about how people all love to categorize everything and we're all programmed to do it.

It is so easy to categorize a person the instant we meet them. We all do it every day, even though we may not mean to, it's just the way society works. Just by glancing at another human being, we assume that by the way that person looks or another superficial indicator, that we know what kind of person he/she is. In less than 24 hours (both happened at work) I was surprised by two people that I met and it humbled me greatly knowing that I did not know anything about these people and should never assume anything about anyone until I know everything. I need to become the owl with glasses. It just makes sense.

The first was of a middle aged man who was having a meal with a woman and another man. It was a very busy evening and since they were not my table, I did not give them much thought since I had 400 other things to think about during the time. They were dressed  very casually and a bit "sloppy" according to society's standards but it's not like I work at a 5 star restaurant so their wardrobe did not concern me in the least. Anyway, they kept to themselves and were still at their table chatting after the place had died down a bit. One of the girls I work with, who has worked there for quite some time, told me that this was one of the nicest men that she had ever known and that every so often he goes to Outriders and buys other people's food for them without telling them. He'll randomly select a table of people which he has no relation to and tell their server that he wants to buy their meal. Then when they go to pay the server says that their meal was paid by a random act of kindness who was sitting at a table not too long ago. Isn't that so nice!?!?! He says he does it to remind people that there are good people still in the world and because he just likes to give.

The second person was an older woman who came in for dinner tonight with her husband. They were both probably in their late 60's - early 70's which is a major indicator that they will likely order small meals and eat only half saying that the portions were too large to finish. It's just a fact that older people have smaller appetites and there is a lot of food waste in restaurants when serving this age group. They both ordered hearty meals and I was going to suggest different choices, especially for her because she ordered a very large meal option, but I bit my tongue and did my job by just getting them what they wanted. I was surprised when I came back after my initial "5 minute check in" to find his plate completely clear and hers nearly empty as well. When I picked up her plate she said, "I didn't finish it all because I wanted to save room for dessert," and I said, "You mean you're having dessert here?" (sometimes people go home to have dessert that they made earlier in the day...most of the time apple pie) She ordered the largest dessert we serve and basically licked the plate clean! And no, her husband didn't have even a single bite of it.

Think back to a time that someone surprised you and smile about it. It felt nice to be challenged didn't it?