No, not like "I hear voices", but really, that little thing that tells us to do this or not do that. You know, the one your mother always told you to listen to. Well, I listened, and am glad that I did!
I was coming home from a late appointment, and swung through a drive-thru for a quick take-home bite. Gave the nice cashier my money, and expected $16 in change. I was handed a wad of bills, and flipped through it quickly...$5 bill, $5 bill, handful of $1's. Okay, flip through the $1's and counted five of them; then the same thing on a recount. So, I'm thinking I'm one short. By this time, the cashier is handing me things through the window, I'm taking them, saying thank you, trying not to lose the cell phone on my lap, (we've all been here, you're nodding, I know that you are!), and I flipped through the ones again. Nope, still one short.
The cashier, a very nice person, is watching me at this point, so I look up, and as I do, the voice in my head says "Laura, let it go, it's $1, move on". It was a thought as clear as the morning light in the mountains. And, it called me by name. So I look up, smile, say thank you again, and moved on. Hmmmm, I'm thinking, what was all that about?
Having worked in restaurants in my past, I realize that it's a tough job, fast-paced and easy to overlook something. But, my concern over the past few years is that so many people in customer service don't pay attention to the little details (counting change, saying thank you, smiling). But why did this, one dollar, bother me?
Twenty-two miles later, I pulled into my garage, took the CD out of the player, picked up my briefcase, opened the door, stepped out, and the missing dollar dropped to the floor. My mouth dropped to the floor with it. In the shuffle through the window, between the cashier and I, the dollar had fallen between the car seat and the door. Immediately, I laughed, thanking the heavens that I had listened to the inner voice in my head, telling me it wasn't important, that I had not insisted that I was $1 short; and I knew in my heart that had I done so originally, I would now be making the 44 mile round trip back to the restaurant to return the dollar, and to apologize profusely.
So, yes, "The Little Voice in My Head" spoke to me last night, and I am glad that I listened. And I'm glad that I was reminded that my job, as a REALTOR®, is all about customer service, and that I, too, need to pay attention to the details, particularly the saying thank you and smiling part!
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