HUGE small things

It’s always the small things. I feel like we all get caught up in trying to make the big change, and forget what actually makes the big change. It’s all of the small things together that add up to the big change. Some small things are the big things and we don’t even know.

This happened to me, in one of the most back handed thank you’s I have ever received and I want to tell you about it in hopes that you may put a little more into the little things. This is by no means a horn toot. I was completely caught off guard, and clearly had no idea what was going on.

I spent a good amount of my working life behind a bar. I loved that job, well.. I loved the people and the conversations at least. I got to know everyone, well.. as much as they would allow that is.

Like any job, there were good days and there were bad days. When behind the bar, it was like being on stage. Everyone was trying to get your attention, and you had no choice but to be on point. Anything less just didn’t cut it. Whether it was my Tuesday night or Friday night at primetime, it was always someone’s party. The best night of some one else’s life and I was behind the bar, so I was in on the party.

It became exhausting at some points. Put anyone behind the bar and they would quickly figure out that your pay is directly correlated to how much fun people are having. Thankfully this was the case. Each night the crew of people varied and so did the conversation, but my goal was unwavering: Let’s all have a good time.

One night I came in to work and the crowd was smaller. One of those nights when lengthy conversations were fitting with the guests. A woman came in by herself and sat down. She was friendly and began to ask if I remembered her and her sister coming in for dinner months before. I faintly recognized this woman, but definitely couldn’t remember her sister by name. I replied to her question that I would recognize her face if I saw her. (Foot in Mouth!)

She then proceeded to tell me very directly that her sister was dead. My jaw dropped. I had no words. Nothing came to mind. I felt like someone just pulled the rug out from under me, and I was just suspended in a cloud of THICK awkwardness. She, then, continues. She says that coming into dinner that night was the last time she spent with her sister. She said thank you for the laughs and that they had such a good time. She was so thankful that one of her final memories with her sister was a good one.

BOOM!

Mind blown! I was still speechless. I felt like the ground shook in that conversation. It was clear as day that the small things (a laugh between sisters) are the big things. And, in this case, one thing that brings light to an otherwise dismal situation.

While you’re out there going through your Tuesday’s and mundane work days, don’t forget to open doors for people and smile, because it always counts.

 

Danny Lesslie

@dannylesslie