As we move down this road we call life..... it is important to remember some things.......what we put into our lives is what we get out of it.......
A couple of weeks ago I was working at a restaurant in a community called Hunters Creek here in southern central Florida. It was busy and we were in the middle of the dinner hour. Lots of people came to our restaurant to get good food served fast and efficiently.
I am the "Kitchen Manager"..... a glorified hourly worker who makes sure everything comes out right for our guests. The food has to come out in 7 minutes or less for those who have their meal in the building. The menu is simple yet there are a LOT of choices:
- Cold Sandwiches (19 different kinds)
- Hot Sandwiches (12 different kinds)
- Salads (10 different kinds)
- Flatbreads (7 different kinds)
- Sandwich wraps (5 different to choose from)
- Baked potatoes (7 to choose from)
- Soups (12 to choose from every day)
- Beverages (Soda, water, milk, coffee, ect.)
- Ice cream, cookies, milkshakes......
Now we have a dishwasher who is quite a character and his name is Miguel. He is about 60 years old and full of vinegar. He also sometimes gets in the way of what is going on in the kitchen because he just is oblivious to the goings on since his dishwashing area is in a different part of the restaurant from the kitchen. He will come in when we least expect it and ask for something (dishes that need to be done, a sandwich to eat or.....) and this sets us up for what I am about to relate:
At the highest point of our dinner rush about 2 weeks ago, Miguel comes into the kitchen and "takes over" a microwave oven which we need to heat up the meats for our hot sandwiches. The oven happens to be in my area and I am busy fixing food for our guests. I look at Miguel and say,"I can't have you in here right now because we are very busy." and I stop him from putting his tea into the microwave to be heated. He looks at me and gives me "The stare of death"...which means he is NOT a happy camper and I have stepped on his wants and desires. Now, if he had asked and waited for me to be ABLE to heat up his tea it would have been just a couple of minutes and all would have been well. BUT Miguel is NOT happy and he goes to the other area in the kitchen to use THAT microwave and is promptly shooed away by the other cook.
Miguel starts to speak in spanish to the other cook and they have a little exchange and the cook puts his tea into the microwave and heats it up for him. Now, the other microwave is not used nearly as much as mine is.....I make ALL the sandwiches (Hot AND cold) and the other side of the kitchen is for making the salads and the salad microwave is very rarely used.
Well, we get through the rush and we start to clean up the kitchen and Miguel comes back into the area to get something for the dishroom and I start to explain to him......
"Miguel, we were very busy and I am sorry I....."
Miguel interrupts me with the "Fickle Finger of Fate Award" (for those of you who have ever watched Laugh In you know what I am talking about...hehehehehe...for the rest of you...he gave me "The Bird") and stared at me with "The Stare of Death" again.
I threw up my hands and said..."Ok... whatever.... just remember I am not going to do whatever you want me to just because you are older than me...it just was the wrong time to do it...right in the middle of the rush..."
But Miguel has said something in spanish to the others there and he stomps away with them saying to him,
"We were busy... you don't have to act that way to him... he was trying to explain...."
- I decided to honor him, BUT let him know what he did in return for my trying to explain to him was not right (I would not talk to him)
- I let him know I was hurt even though I respected his age. (I would look down at the floor when he was near me and would not look up at him)
I kept this up for 2 weeks.....and then God told me it was the right time to apologize AGAIN to him..........YES...AGAIN.......
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He is my buddy now and will only let ME make his sandwiches when he is hungry.......hehehehe
=-D
Even though he did NOT tell me he was sorry he over reacted...his attitude told me he felt bad about what HE did AND that he was sorry...and I accepted THAT attitude as proof he was sincere.
For the 2 weeks I did not talk to him or even look at him he very rarely smiled to anyone....... after we had our little talk,
His smile was EAR TO EAR !!!!!
(Click on the "God Almighty" picture to see a reminder of what is most important in life......)
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Sometimes God speaks to us in a still quiet voice.......... Not always in the thunder..... I think that is what happened to Miguel........
I gotta tell ya....... life is wonderful when we learn how to live it....... =-D
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