It’s been a busy morning, filled with running errands and fighting for parking.  I received an e-mail this morning that indicated there was a rapidly approaching deadline for one of my errands.  

In preparation for an upcoming PRSSA event I needed to purchase a few restaurant gift cards as “Thank You’s” for our presenters.  The only problem is that the school issued credit card I was using needed to be returned before noon and I needed to get to class.  If you were not aware most restaurants don’t open until 11:00 am.  

I knew that the P.F. Changs was not yet open but when I saw a waiter walking toward the store front I caught his attention to plead my case.  It would have been very simple to turn me away or tell me to wait until they opened, instead I was invited into the restaurant and offered a drink while the manager came up to assist me with my gift card purchases.  

I’ve worked in the food service industry and I know that it is often times hard to remain cheerful or friendly.  I wan’t to applaud both this server and manager from the Orem Utah location.  I don’t know whether or not they were in compliance with corporate policy  or if they were making an exception to help me out.  What I do know is that they were kind, respectful, and exercised emotional intelligence to assess my needs and help me out.  

Thank You P.F. Changs