My family ends up eating out a lot. How about you? Sometimes we eat out because we like to, and other times because we don’t have time to eat together at home. Whenever my kids are with me, they are constantly begging me to tip the waiter huge amounts of money because of a kindness shown to them during the meal. Let’s face it, most of the time the waiter is smart and they pander to the kids to get to the parents (which my kids are pretty good at smoking out), but there are times when we run into a hard-working mom that genuinely cares about my kids and goes the extra mile to get them a free kid desert or a sucker after the meal. Yes, I double the tip if they deserve it, but it is never enough for the kids, so we have started this thing where we bring the manager over and my children will tell them all about the great service and explain why the waiter or waitress deserves employee of the month.

I tell you this story because it is always fascinating to me to watch the manager when we bring them to the table. Almost always they are expecting to get their butt chewed out because of bad food or a service complaint. They may as well come out in a boxer’s headgear and bulletproof vest. To see the relief on the manager’s face when we start saying something good is almost humorous.

So here is the point. How often do you actually LOOK FOR a reason to say something nice to someone who works for you, someone you work for, or someone who does something good for you in the course of a day? Do you call a manager over in a store to celebrate a clerk that went above and beyond? How about the people who change your oil – have you ever called the corporate office to pass along a good word about their franchise?

I get that we are all in a hurry and doing stuff like this takes time, but do yourself a favor and over the next few weeks, be intentional, maybe more than normal, and find someone to lift up. It is too easy to be critical toward those we work with, and sometimes it actually takes an effort to pass along a kind word, but the result of doing that could make a significant difference in someone’s life!

My rule in a restaurant is they get the big tip when they go ABOVE AND BEYOND. Not that you can’t say something nice if they do their job, but the big tip or manager conference only happens when they WOW us. I know there are some great stories out there from when you have done this, so give them up in the comments section!