Especially when times are hard, it is easy to get folks to concentrate on what they don't have. But they (or we) do this at our peril, because it ignores or devalues something every one of us DOES have: 'Our Best.'
When we evaluate our situation by possession or lack of items, we measure on a ruler of quantity. That ruler has no metric or valuation for quality. When we measure on a ruler of quality, our metric of quantity (possessions and/or lack thereof) means little.
Today, I stopped for lunch at a new café touting 'Burgers and BBQ' on its sign. Never having eaten at this restaurant, I was gathering my first impression.
I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with mustard, pickles, and tomato. Now it turns out there is a national tomato-scare happening, so I was informed that there was no tomato, and I understand how things are and said I'd like the rest of my order, repeating "a bacon cheeseburger with mustard and pickles" just to be sure.
The gentleman asked me if I wanted onions and lettuce and I said that I preferred not to get them, so he gave me a receipt and a glass and sent me to find a table.
Not terribly later, a young lady brought my order out and it clearly had lettuce on it, which I am willing to sweep aside, but I was somewhat bothered by why it had this and told her I had said I didn't want onions or lettuce and her response was there are no onions on the burger …
I am capable of removing onions, or lettuce, or most anything I don't care for, but that is not what this is about.
After I ate, I stopped by the counter and since there was nobody else in line or around, I talked to the young lady:
"This is my first time here and this was your chance to impress me, to 'Wow' me. I can get a burger anywhere in town, but today, yours was the only place that had a chance to impress me and make me happy. Now if you don't ask me how I want my burger, I feel that you don't care if I am happy or not. But if you ask me how I want it and then you bring it some other way, I am
convinced that you REALLY don't care if I am happy or not.
A burger is a burger and costs about the same to make anywhere or to buy anywhere. Selling me a burger is no big deal and easy to do. But what makes me come back is a feeling of being glad that I bought my burger from a place that made me happy.
Now, if you measure success by selling me a burger, you may or may not see me again, but if you give me your best service, showing that you care about my satisfaction, you will see me again.
This goes for burgers, accountants, taxis, doctors, lawyers, and candle makers. The most important thing you can give is your best. It is invaluable.
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