Motivational Moment:Making a Difference, When You Least Expect It

It’s amazing how events that make the biggest impact on our lives often happen inconspicuously. Moments we remember throughout the years are the ones that occur without any expectation. For example, in the spring of 2005, my family traveled to the Rocky Mountains. We aren’t avid skiers, but we were looking forward to taking a few lessons and gliding down those incredible slopes. Now I’m not what you would call an adventuresome skier; in fact, I associate the first letter of the type of slope with another word. For example, black is bad, blue is better not, and green is good. Our time was divided between Vail and Keystone. The sight of the tallest and most awesome mountain range in the United States was amazing. Vail and Beaver Creek Villages were also unbelievable. There’s more that I could list; however, nothing mentioned represents the most memorable experience for us. After spending three days in Vail, we were headed to Keystone. That morning we went to where a restaurant I had heard about was located (or supposed to be located). We were hungry and ready for breakfast. Unfortunately, nothing there resembled a restaurant. I decided that we would head east and stop in the next location that looked enticing. Surely there was something not too far down the road. We drove 5 miles, then 10 miles, then 20 miles, but there was nothing. Did I mention that we were hungry and ready to eat? Finally we reached an area a few exits before Keystone, nothing fancy, but it would do. It was about one-third full when we arrived, but none of the unoccupied tables were bussed. That’s not good. There was only one person waiting on the tables, which was not good either. We were not about to leave and try something else because, well, you know. The humor had left the family some time ago. We stood next to a sign that said Please wait to be seated. They weren’t kidding about the word wait! The waitress was very apologetic and obviously pretty stressed, but managed to be pleasant in spite of what was apparently not one of her better days. She seated us and handed out menus. Since this was our first time there, we would need a few extra minutes to look over the menu. For some strange reason, I didn’t think she would be rushing us this morning. Things did move at a slow pace and we did our best to keep it in perspective. The waitress apologized again for the situation and let us know her co-worker did not show up, nor did the bus person. Her name was Sandy, and she was doing everything she could but was up against odds that were too great to overcome. There are two paths that this experience could travel. The first would be to vocalize our dissatisfaction and make sure everyone around us feels as badly as we do. The second would be to make something positive about it. Let’s look at the facts: we were on vacation, and this wasn’t supposed to happen to us. However, by allowing frustration to win out would do no good. Sandy was doing the best she could, and although we were experiencing an inconvenience, she was experiencing an even greater inconvenience. During the meal I kept hearing that little voice inside telling me to do something about it. I told my wife Stella what I was thinking, and she said, I was thinking about the same thing, that we need to help somehow. I then motioned for Sandy to come over, and asked her to bring a bus tray and a few dish cloths. I told her we understood the situation and wanted to help. Our family had an opportunity to make a difference here. It wasn’t the waitress’s fault, yet she was paying the price for it. It won’t make much of a difference to us if we get to the slopes a half hour later than we expected, but it would make a huge difference here. Sandy returned and again asked if we were sure we wanted to do this. We said it was no problem and we were glad to do it. As her eyes moistened a bit, there wasn’t anything else to say. Her look communicated everything. We knew we doing a good thing in fact, it was the right thing. As the four of us cleared off the tables in our area, we noticed those on the other side of the restaurant starting to do the same thing. We were near Keystone, Colorado; the snow-capped mountains were calling our name. Yet we were bussing tables in a diner and having the time of our lives. I can tell you without hesitation, of all we did that week, and there were some wonderful memories and experiences, the first one we think of is that morning at the restaurant. I was excited to see that something we started sparked others to do the same and help someone in need. We meet Sandys every day when they enter an unfamiliar world to them: the EP lab. They didn’t ask for the situation, but they are there. Some show their fear and concern, others hide it. I’ll never forget a sign I saw posted in a lab 15 years ago that read I’m a person, not a case. Each day presents opportunities to make a positive impact on those around us. Sometimes it’s the patient, other times it may be the electrophysiologist, or our co-workers. There’s a line from the movie Dave, when Kevin Kline’s character said You don’t know what good you can do until you decide to try.