Hamburger Day and a Lesson in Motivation

My wife, nephew, and I drove to a local hamburger site.  As always, the hamburgers were excellent.

After we finished eating, I dumped our plates and napkins. On the way back to my table, I witnessed the rude action of one of the restaurant’s employees. As I passed the drink bar, there were six people around it. Two were refilling their drinks; two were waiting to fill their cups. Next, a senior couple in their late 80s attempted to exit the building through the tiny aisle. Both had drinks in their shaking hands. The gentleman walked with a cane.

Suddenly, one employee jumped between the four people on the left side of the small aisle and me on the right, hell-bent on picking up his next order. He barely missed hitting the older couple and dashed on. We avoided a disaster. I waited thirty seconds, and as the server returned, I told him how rude he was. His only reply was, “I didn’t see them standing there.” He lied, or he was blind.

The second event I observed was a lesson in motivation. I saw a young man in his early 30s busing and rearranging the chairs at three tables opposite me. He cleaned the tables and rearranged the 12 chairs—four at each table. Stepping back to observe his work, he saw something he did not like. He mixed the chairs. His action said I must set the chairs right.

I thought he might be a manager, so I asked if he was. No, he said, “I am the owner.”

Today was a good day for a hamburger. It was also an excellent day to see why a person earns $12 an hour and why someone else earns six figures a year.