What Does It Take to Do a Great Job?

I was at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas yesterday with my husband. It was 80s and sunny in Vegas, and 30s and snow here at home... Why did we fly back here again? Oh well, I suppose that's another topic. Anyway, after making our way through security (which surprisingly was only a 5 minute ordeal), we stopped at one of the restaurants for breakfast. It's fun to watch people while you sit, waiting.

One of the people I noticed was a cleaning staff member. His job, at least while I was watching, was to sweep up any litter he saw. You know what I'm talking about; you see these sweepers at all theme parks, malls, etc. This guy tried to sweep a piece of paper into his dustbin and it (the litter) didn't budge from the floor. It must have been a sticker. He pushed at it with his shoe, and it still didn't budge. At that point, he walked away.

I remember the staff at Disneyworld encountering something similar. They carried scrapers so they could make sure they got all of the litter - including gum.

It seems to me that is an example of a good portion of a great customer experience: you get the job done right, even if it means carrying additional tools and using a bit of elbow grease.

 photo credit: istockphoto.com

Signs From the Universe

It seems to me that people often say they've been given a "sign" when something happens to them. It doesn't seem to matter if it's positive or negative. A sign that you're going in the right direction, the wrong direction, someone likes you, someone hates you, something was meant to be, or something wasn't meant to be.

I know I've said it. Heck, I said it today. I think this is just something we tell ourselves to justify the feelings we happen to be having at that moment.

Life is random. It's not a highway taking a somewhat straight course from coast to coast. It's a series of back roads, with hairpin turns that sometimes backtrack. Perhaps the signs we think we are seeing are actually mile markers,  the proof of progression through life itself.