...serving...

So, I'm waiting tables the other day; slinging fried fish and french fries. There's this customer who is very talkative and friendly, both he and his wife. They eat their meal etc...and then go on their merry way. Between shifts my co-worker and I go to Starbucks to grab a coffee to get us through the next 5 hours of "fried fish and french fries". When we walk in there is my customer, without his wife sitting in the Starbucks reading. We exchange a hello and before long he is standing with us talking about their journey, where they are headed, have been etc... He asks if we are managers of the restaurant and we say, no "just lowly servers"! He then makes a statement that has reminded me of something really beautiful about life. He says, "ah servers...the most powerful ones....you have all of the power!" My friend simply shrugged it off at face value but I think I fully grasped what our new friend Alex was referring to. He sounded almost like a Zen master espousing wisdom, for in fact anyone who is a servant in life truly has the power. Servant leadership is an amazing concept and one that has baffled many throughout centuries. The prophet Jesus, Ghandi, Mother Teresa etc...are all beautiful examples of this type of leadership. And so, I went back to work with a bit of a different feeling. Yes I'm just slinging fried fish and french fries but I am also serving others...which in the end is a great lesson to learn! Peace out!

Comments

PatMullins said…
Not much for being passive myself. When you're passive, life just passes by. You must grab hold, engage, confront. Live, don't just exist.
June 24, 2008 at 1:45 PM
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