The older I get, the more things I learn to say no to. Things I should have been saying no to for a long time. Ice cream is not one of those things.
I love ice cream. Probably too much. Last week I bought a half-gallon of cookies and cream along with a bottle of water at a convenience store. The total came to $7.66. I slid a five and three singles across the counter. Seven people waited behind me. The clerk was no stranger to working quickly.
His right hand submerged below the counter with bills in hand and, in one fluid motion, rose quickly with a clenched fist. He had already made eye contact with the next customer by the time his coins landed in my open palm. A quarter and a dime.
I made my first habitual step toward the door before I stopped to examine the situation. Thirty five cents? I wasn’t supposed to get thirty five. Did he short me? Wait. No. He gave me more. In stead of a nickel and four pennies I got a dime. He was working too hard to see me smile back at him as I made my exit.
Here’s what I thought about that clerk:
- The light on the cash register told him to give me a quarter, a nickel and four pennies.
- He knows most people hate carrying more change than they have to.
- So he decided to take a small, selfless action to make my life better.
Evaluate this on an Excel spreadsheet and he only gave me a penny. Big deal. Even a first semester MBA student can tell you it takes a lot more than a penny to persuade someone.
But this isn’t about the penny. It’s never really about the penny.
It’s about how a stranger totally gets me, without ever having an actual conversation with me. However slight, he thought of a way to make my life better in less than a second. And that was more important to him than doing things by the book.
By exceeding my expectations he made a friend (and loyal customer) out of me.
And it only cost him a penny.
Photo credit: rishibando
