Not long ago, I was in Jerry’s Pizza for lunch. I was in a hurry, and didn’t feel like waiting for anything, so I figured I’d grab a couple of slices of pizza, since they were right there in the case at the counter. Now, you know that feeling you get when you look at something that’s been divvied up and someone else is going to pick what you get? You hope that that person, especially if they have no skin in the game, will give you the biggest pieces. Does that ever happen? Seldom, my friends, seldom. If it were possible for the counter guy to pick two smaller pieces of pizza, I’m not sure how he could have done it. I got seriously stiffed, and it left a “grrrr” on my mojo for the rest of the afternoon.
So why the “pickle principle”? Let me back up a bit. When I was a kid, I loved pickles…still do, in fact. So much so that, on birthdays and occasionally even at Christmas, I actually received pickles as a gift, from those that truly knew and loved me. Anyway, every so often, I’d be in the grocery with my mom, and we’d go to the deli counter, and there, behind the glass case, was a clear glass jar, full of pickles. My mother would often let me get one as a treat (she knew and loved me, of course).
I’d step up to the counter and ask the lady or man to get me a pickle, please. Now remember, this is a clear glass jar here, so it’s OBVIOUS where the big pickles are, and where the more “gherkinesque” ones are floating. How many times do you think someone hooked me up with a good sized pickle? Damn few, that’s how often. It’s a pattern that continues to this day.
And so, I am forced to ask……WHY?! What do you profit by stiffing somebody? It’s not as if these are the last pickles (or slices of pizza) on earth, and need to be hoarded for more worthy souls. I mean really, what would it cost you to do me a solid and make my day?
So, here’s the pickle principle:
All of us have a clear glass jar, a reservoir of energy and enthusiasm, full of various things, that we must dole out of every day. Whether I’m clerking a deli counter, selling slices of pizza, or cutting up someone’s house and turning into something new and special, I am giving or selling you something that you can see. If I don’t give you the biggest pickle, or if I half-ass some bit of work, you’ll know, won’t you? You’ll see it, know I could have done better, and feel cheated somehow, won’t you? I know I do.
I think there’s no good reason why you shouldn’t give your customer, your clients, and certainly your friends and family, the best you can give at that moment. Here’s the key phrase though…..AT THAT MOMENT. Think of it like a jar of pickles….if you give each customer the biggest pickle you can see in the jar, they’ll be happy and you will be too. After all, you just hooked them up, didn’t you? So when the next customer comes along, you do the same, and that guy feels like you just hooked him up too, right?
And on it goes. Each customer is getting progressively smaller pickles, but each feels like you did the best you could for them. And really, when you think about it, you did! So life is like that too, isn’t it? We have days that are full of energy, and others that drag. Some days, we’re capable of great things and others we’re content merely to not screw something up and get home in one piece. If we give others the best we are capable of at each moment though, I think we have no reason to feel ashamed. Our family, our friends, our clients and customers will know……and so will we.
