I stopped in at IKEA on my way home from work on Sunday to buy some shelving for my garage. I was helped by a very friendly, efficient young woman, Shaily. After a few minutes I determined what I wanted and continued on my way. A few minutes after that, Shaily caught me in the store and asked, “Do you own a restaurant?”

Yes… The Flying Banzini.

Shaily then told me how much she and her boyfriend Ryan LOVE The Flying Banzini. It was an awesome moment. It is always great to get positive feedback about the restaurant. It feels good and validates what we are trying to build. It is REALLY cool when you get unsolicited feedback about the restaurant in the Home Organization department at IKEA. Shaily totally made my whole day.

I usually have an “I saw what you did there” card with me. It’s a card that I sometimes hand out. It’s good for a free lunch for two. But, I didn’t have any. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even get Shaily’s name. I felt bad. Caught off guard I did not adequately express my thanks.

But then, last night, Shaily and her boyfriend Ryan came in for supper. Yay! I let them order and then I bought their supper. Thank you Shaily. Thank you Ryan. Customers like you make owning a restaurant a lot of fun. You made my day. You made my week.

If there is a lesson in this it is a reminder to say nice things to people. We often pay each other complements behind our backs. We say to friend A, “Gosh, friend B is really smart” but for some reason we don’t tell B this to his/her face. Weird. Saying nice things to one another is really, really uplifting. Thanks for reminding my Shaily.

Tune in to tomorrow’s blog for the saga of the very angry Italian man… An experience quite different than Shaily and Ryan.