The Best of Me

The end of my 6 ½ hour Greeter shift on a Wednesday was near. “Barb” had been waiting a 1 ½ hours for an electronic cart as there was no way she could walk her shopping trip without some kind of mobile assistance. She sat quietly on a bench at the front of the store reading the current store advertisements. I had not forgotten her.

Our supply of Amigos (electronic carts) was currently on short supply. Of the eight the store owned, three were due for repair, two were fully dead and needed a complete recharge, and the three good ones were in use. I was hoping there would be an Amigo for Barb by the time I left 2pm. I would skip my afternoon break to make sure she got an Amigo before the end of my shift. 

Fifteen minutes before I was scheduled to go home, an Amigo became available. I felt Barb deserved the best for not leaving our store to go elsewhere. I wanted to make sure I delivered this Amigo personally to Barb to show the appreciation of our store for her loyalty.

I liked “Percy” as my fellow Greeter. Today, he was at the General Merchandise doors. As he saw me coming, I was reminded by him that there was always to be greeter coverage at the Grocery doors (at the other end of the store).

At this point, I had a choice to put the person first (as Jesus, my wife, and the store management would do) or follow the rules, which were often ignored when other more important things needed to be finished as a Greeter. Anyway Percy was another employee just like me, and had no supervisorial abilities to tell me what to do.

With complete irritation, I told Percy to go man the other doors if himself if that was what he wanted done. As Percy left, I hurried the Amigo to Barb, and once again apologized for the delay. Whether Barb told anyone (verbally, written, or electronically) about my desire to make her a happy customer, I was content with choice I’d made as I drove off the store parking lot.

Have you ever had a situation at work where you had to choose between the rules and what was right no matter the consequences to you? What choice did you make? Can your conscience live with the option you chose? In this particular instance, would you do anything differently? These are all important questions to think about. What will you do when those hard-to-determine choices show up with no warning? Be ready.