We do live in busy times and we can get caught up in our own little world so easily. Awareness, and also the lack of it was drawn to my attention last week when we went out with friends. Let me explain.
We found a parking spot right in the middle of the restaurant district with no idea of which place to choose. So we took pot luck and sat down at a tiny place which looked to have something for everyone. We were duly handed our menus and we chatted and perused our choices.
Our orders were taken, they did not ask us about drinks at all and did not even put water on the table, and presently the entrees arrived. We were nowhere near finished the entrees and one main dish arrived on the table. We thought it strange, but let it be. A second main dish arrived on the table.
We were enjoying the company, the chat, the warm weather and fresh air and all the people around us. When we finished our entrees we decided to ask for drinks. We indicated to the waiter …. …. we waved at the waiter ….. …. we called and waved at the waiter. “Oh, you want a drink. What do you want?” At this point I’ll add that it was a restaurant of Asian orientation, so we asked for green tea.
Eventualy out came 4 part filled cups of lukewarm tea. Hrrmmphh……. more calling….. and BIG waves to get the attention of the staff and I asked for a pot of hot water, as not only was the tea lukewarm but it was also very strong. Someone came back with a pot of hot water and duly poured some into my cup and into Geoffrey’s cup but not into the other two. He then walked off WITH the teapot. The four of us looked at each other and burst out laughing.
When the other main meals came out, none of them had serving spoons, and we had to practically do a mexican wave to get serving spoons and bowls to put our food in. When we asked for more tea, out came a pot of tea and he filled our cups. When I asked for the teapot to be left on the table we were told, “I can’t leave it here, it is ours. It is the only one we have.” I could go on – but you’d never believe it. The service was SO bad, that at one stage I glanced around suspecting that we were on candid camera or something because no-one running a restaurant in a district like this could surely be SO bad at service and awareness of their customers needs.
After our meal – which was by the way, very good food, we sat and chatted for an hour or so. In that time, not one staff member asked if we’d like either like desserts or anything else to drink…… The silence was deafening.
We went to the desk, paid the bill and left. We meandered a little further up the road and found a place where we enjoyed coffee and desserts.
We did have a great night because of the company but what it highlighted to me was the whole lack of awareness. It was as if a fantastic cook decided to start a restaurant and serve good food but did not have the awareness to train their ‘front of house’ staff in customer care.
I could leave it there but what struck me as a great lesson is that we can all do a similar thing in our lives. We can get so caught up in our little bit of the picture that we can forget to have the awareness of what else is needed in order for us to really live up to our potential. Tikashi likens it to us having our heads down doing the best job we can do, knowing the world needs widgets for example, we are so busy churning out widgets that we never noticie that the world needs boxes to put those widgets in, and transport to get them to where they need to be etc..
When we are comfortable and are trusting that we are on the right path, doing the best we can do, it is important to look up and be aware of how we are impacting others, what their needs may be and how we can integrate so as we can all achieve our dreams. No matter where we are and what we might be doing, we can always look around and have more awareness of ourselves and of others.
Yes, we had a great night, we laughed and we learned – isn’t that a great life?
Best wishes to you,
Eschani.
