How It's Easy to Make a Difference

My daughter Sophie has had a difficult couple of weeks. She had her wisdom teeth removed. An oral surgeon removed all four of them at once, leaving her gums very sore and her face swollen and bruised. For days, Sophie has only been able to eat small amounts of soft foods and, because of the pain, she hasn’t felt well enough to venture out of the house. But yesterday, Imogen and I took her for a trip to town.

We wanted to give Sophie some special time. Lift her spirits. And because we thought she was ready to try a few normal foods after days of eating a bland no-chewing-needed diet, we took her to one of our favourite cafes.

My girls and I chose a corner table at the back of the cafe where we could see both the kitchen and the serving counter. Then we ordered our food. While we were waiting for it to arrive, Imogen and Sophie observed the chef and watched the wait staff going about their work.

“Every since I’ve worked in a cafe, I can’t help myself,” said Sophie. “I find myself comparing other cafes to ours.”

“I notice things I never used to,” says Imogen, “like whether the coffee machine is filled to the brim with beans. (If it’s not, the grind goes off.) It’s easy to see if a cafe is good or not.”

“So what do you think?” I asked.

“There’s only one chef, but he’s very organised. He’s handling lots of big orders at once,” said Sophie.

“And the staff look happy,” said Imogen.

“You can tell a lot about a cafe from observing how the staff interact with each other. One of the orders was messed up but no one got upset. They sorted it out quickly without blaming anyone,” said Sophie

“Yes, they get on well with each other. This must be a good place to work.”

The cafe is also a good place to eat. That’s probably due to the excellent people that are working there.

“We work in a cafe all week,” said Imogen, “and on our day off, we visit a cafe. We can’t seem to get away from them.”

“That’s because cafes are wonderful places to visit,” I observed. “We can eat good food while relaxing and chatting. We can feel special in a cafe.”

As long as we choose the right cafe. With the right staff.

In episode 133 of my podcast: A Balanced and Productive Unschool Life, Sophie was telling me about a very special person she works with. This woman cares about everyone she comes in contact with including the cafe staff and the customers that she serves. Sophie would like to be just like her. She wants to make a difference in everyone’s day in the same way her co-worker does.

We can all make a difference. Do amazing things. Every single one of us. It’s not difficult. Because doing amazing things doesn’t necessarily mean doing big impressive things. It could be about paying attention to the little things of life. Lifting someone’s spirits. Offering a smile or a word of encouragement. Taking the time to listen. We all have many opportunities to affect other people’s lives in very positive ways.

Since Sophie has been recovering from her oral surgery, Imogen has been rating her meals. If Sophie eats a soft food such as yoghurt, that’s a rating of 1. Adding something that requires a bit of chewing raises the rating. Today, Sophie was given a score of 4 because she ate regular foods: poached eggs, avocado, hash browns and half her sweet potato chips. If she’d eaten the crispy, crusty toast, she’d have received an even higher rating. Maybe soon she’ll achieve a full 5 score.

As we were preparing to leave the cafe, I stopped a waitperson and asked if we could have something to put the rest of Sophie’s sweet potato chips in. “They’re too good to waste,” I said. “We’d like to take them home.” The girl smiled and immediately headed to the kitchen and returned quickly with a suitable container.

Sophie was impressed. “They recycle their containers. This one’s been washed in the dishwasher. No plastic waste.”

A couple of minutes later, we were heading through the cafe door feeling full and happy. Our lunchtime get together had been an excellent experience:

Good food.

Good company.

And good service given with lots of smiles by a waitperson who obviously enjoys her job. She made a difference to our day.

Here’s a very short excerpt from podcast episode 133. It’s the part where Sophie talks about the special person she works with and how she wants to be just like her.

And here’s the transcript just in case you’d rather read our conversation:

Sophie: There’s a certain woman I know from work and everyone says she’s the best person to be around. Everyone says, “She’s a special person. She’s a lovely person. I wish I could be that kind of person that everyone looks at and goes ‘That person is special. She cares about people. She’s always so kind and thoughtful. She’s always happy. She never complains.'”

That’s the kind of person I want to be. The kind of person who people remember for just how much… how happy and positive….

Sue: How they make you feel?

Sophie: Yes, how they make you feel. And what a good impact they leave on everyone else. That lady leaves a chain reaction. Everyone she touches leaves smiling and laughing.

Sue: Which reminds me of how, sometimes, I talk about going out there and making a difference. Do amazing things. But sometimes doing amazing things isn’t singing in a concert beautifully or drawing a great picture.

Sophie: Publishing that book. Becoming world famous.

Sue: All those things are good, but sometimes doing amazing things is making other people happy.

Sophie: The little things in life. Improving someone’s day. Making someone smile. Lifting someone’s spirits when they’re having a hard time.

Sue: Yes, and I think that in some ways, those are the most important things.

Sophie: Definitely.

Sue: And everyone can do that.

Sophie: I feel especially because I work so much at the moment… I’m talking a lot about work but… I feel like because I work, especially as I work in hospitality, I have so many opportunities where I could make a difference in someone’s day and improve their day. And I find that it’s something a lot of people don’t acknowledge, what they could do, and they don’t take advantage of it like they could.

Perhaps you’d like to listen to the whole podcast, episode 133: A Balanced and Productive Unschool Life,  if you haven’t done that already. Sophie has lots of interesting things to say about all kinds of things. I think you’ll enjoy our conversation.

Images

These photos are of the excellent staff and the happy customers we saw while visiting one of our favourite cafes. The man in the bottom photo doesn’t have a smile on his face, but I’m sure he wasn’t unhappy with the service at the cafe. I took this photo because I love his hat!

So I’m wondering…

Do you ever encourage your kids to go out there and make a difference? Do you know anyone who touches people’s lives in a very special way? And have you ever had wisdom teeth surgery? Or maybe you still have all your teeth!