A Little More Effort

When was the last time someone blew your expectations out of the water; he/she just completely over performed? It doesn’t happen often, does it?

It happened to me today. No, I wasn’t the over performer; I was the lucky recipient. I came home hungry around lunch time and asked my daughter, Keely to fix me something to eat. She’s a good child and got right on it. A few minutes later she returned to my office empty handed.

“We don’t have enough meat to make a sandwich,” she stated.

Not easily deterred I replied, “Use what you have, add some cheese and sliced tomato and let’s roll with it.”

A minute or two passed and she returned, again with nothing in her hands.

“We don’t have any bread to make a sandwich,” she informed.

I probably rolled my eyes (I’m learning that from my kids).

“What about one of those flat sandwich wrap thingies?” (I’ve learned that term from my wife).

“No”.

“Well, just do something. Consider this your challenge as a chef. Work with what you have, but don’t come back here without food next time.”

Hunger makes me cranky.

At this point, I really expected Keely to open a can of tuna and bring it to me still in the can. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she delivered it sans fork. I should know by now not to be sarcastic with the person who is preparing my food out of my view. There’s another free tip for you.

A while later Keely returned with much more than a can of tuna. She carried with her a beautiful plate of penne pasta with Alfredo sauce topped with pan seared, spiced encrusted salmon and sprinkled with Romano cheese. The salmon was a work of art. A deep pink on the inside, yet crusty on the outside. Perfection. I have long been telling Keely that God designed her to be a chef, but she hasn’t decided yet to live in the will of God.

She totally stunned me. My expectations for lunch were not even in the same time zone of what she delivered. I shouldn’t have been surprised because she works magic in the kitchen.

With just a little more effort, Keely went way over the top in serving me. I bet a little more effort is all that we would need to give someone (our spouse, kids, boss, friend, etc) in order to completely blow away their expectations. It would probably be well worth it.