Thankfulness

One of the most rewarding parts of being a small-business owner is how people really appreciate when you go out of their way to help them. Whether it's by giving an obviously worn-out mother a free cookie to help quiet down her screaming toddler or by not calling social services when you hear that same mother scream "SHUT THE HELL UP!" to the newborn in the stroller who's too young to eat a cookie, it's all about taking care of people.

And we don't just limit that to our customers. We take care of our employees as well.

Take A, for instance. Though it was debatable whether or not he washed regularly, he was an excellent employee.* My husband had taken him under his wing and was mentoring him on how much lettuce to put on a sandwich, when all of a sudden, the poor kid had had too much. His body went rigid, his eyes glazed over, and a low, guttural sound emanated from his throat.

At that moment, his body pitched backwards and hit the counter behind him. My husband rushed to help him, but A hit the floor. THUMP! That's when the shaking and the trembling and the jerking started happening.

My husband freaked. No one had ever mentioned to him that A had any kind of medical issues that might result in a seizure. He immediately dialed 911. Within minutes, the ambulance had arrived and our non-responsive employee was loaded up and taken to the hospital with the sirens blaring.

Shaken, D called in another employee to handle the rest of A's shift and waited for an update on his condition. The call came in just a few hours later. It was A, now recovered enough to talk on the phone. Their conversation went something like this:

Ring...ring...

D: Hello?
A: Hey, it's A.
D: Oh my God. It's so good to hear from you. How are you? Are you OK?
A: Man, don't ever call an ambulance for me again. I can't afford that shit. I just got the epilepsy.

The End.



Don't you just love a happy ending?









*What is the definition of an excellent employee, you may be wondering? Easy: one who shows up on time.