I can't get enough of thought-provoking prose from experts. Here are two pieces I find particularly poignant.
The first is an author-unknown piece I found in a publication titled The Winner's Circle. The piece is about customer service with a twist.
An award goes to the United Airlines gate agent in Denver for being smart and funny, and for making her point when confronted with a passenger who probably deserved to fly as cargo.
During the final days of Denver's old Stapleton airport, a crowded United flight was canceled. A single agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travelers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, “I have to be on this flight and it has to be in first class.”
The agent replied, “I'm sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but I've got to help these folks first, but I'm sure we'll be able to work something out.”
The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, “Do you have any idea who I am?”
Without hesitating, the gate agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone. “May I have your attention, please?” she began, her voice bellowing throughout the terminal. “We have a passenger here at the gate WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to the gate.”
The man retreated as the people in the terminal applauded loudly. Although the flight was canceled and people were late, they were no longer angry at United. Customer service takes many different faces, doesn't it?
The second is a subject I have written about before but sometimes we need to be reminded; don't be afraid to try something because you've never done it before.
This story was published in the Wall Street Journal and reprinted in Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Don't be afraid to take chances. Here's why.
You've failed many times, although you may not remember.
You fell down the first time you tried to walk.
You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn't you?
Did you hit the ball the first time you swung the bat?
Heavy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot.
English novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.
Babe Ruth struck out 1,339 times but he also hit 714 home runs.
Don't worry about failure is the message here.