Giving Thanks

For a change this post isn't about photography or photography related stuffs. This post is about being Grateful.When you're traveling you don't always eat well. You have snacks, fast food and a lot of coffee. I’ve been road tripping for almost a month straight and tonight I decided to treat myself to a steak at Longhorn Steakhouse. The joy of chains like this is consistency in food and service. I knew I could order my 6 oz. Flo’s Filet and have a great little steak and some yummy mashed potatoes. Not something I have every day for sure, so a real luxury, especially on the road.

When I my steak arrived I realised I had made an error in my order. Longhorn adds a spice blend to their steaks before they fire them that is a little strong for my palate. My error, I’d forgotten to ask them not to put the spice blend on. Shortly after the steak arrived my waitress asked how things were. I said, it's great, but I forgot about the spices.

Immediately, she offered to make another steak for me, I said thank you, but asked that they not waste it. It was my error and the steak tasted fine, just a little more heat than I prefer, but I really didn't want them to do another steak for me.

Shortly there after, the waitress came by and said "I think they've put another one on for you". And I smiled but said, “oh no, please don't waste it.". She said it was just fine. And then the manager came over, she said she'd overheard my comments to the waitress and that she wanted to be sure I had a steak that I was going to enjoy. I was truly grateful for their concern over my experience there, in this day and age it's not something you see often.

A few minutes later another steak appeared. And I thought wow, this is nuts, but I had to have a bite of it. The second steak was actually cooked a bit more to my taste, so I had a couple of bites of the second steak. I found myself with two partially eaten steaks and salad that I couldn't finish, so I have leftovers for tomorrow. 

What really stood out for me, is that something that was my fault, they resolved, without even thinking about it.

I decided to share my gratitude immediately. I left a 30% tip, and then I Tweeted a Thank You to Longhorn Steaks, to let them know that location was awesome. Longhorn has already replied and said they would recognise that location.

Moral of the story

We often gripe with things don't go our way, but how often do we recognise things that are awesome?

This has been on my mind a lot lately, from experiences like this to remembering that whenever you walk into an establishment for groceries, or coffee or a meal, that we need to have respect for the individuals working in these places.

When they say Hi, say Hi back.

When they ask How you are, ask them how they are.

When you're at the register, get off your cell phone.

Working in these industries is some of the hardest work and so often is thankless, so be kind, be thankful. 

Thanks for reading! Do you have any stories like this? If so, please share them in the comments!

~ kate