In a world seemingly void of good customer service, tonight I was more than pleasantly surprised. Being out of town on a business trip means that I’m on the look out for good restaurants to eat dinner, but sometimes I just want something simple. Most of the time that means I’m forced to go with something like pizza or burgers, but luckily Indiana, PA has a Pita Pit. After an afternoon of Geocaching I really had a taste for falafel so I decided to head downtown to get a falafel pita.

I saw that the “open” sign was still lit up so I parked my rental car and walked up to the door. I looked at the hours and my heart sank. They were open until 8 PM. I looked down at my phone and sure enough, it was 8:01 PM. I turned around and walked back to my car. Just as I was about to open the door I heard a knock on the restaurant window. The only employee left at the restaurant waved to me to come in.

I never got his name, but his simple gesture of staying open a few extra minutes just so I could buy dinner there said a lot about the kind of person he is, and in turn, reflected really well on the company. He was friendly, making small talk about me being in town on business and the like. As I drove back to my hotel I thought about the numerous lessons I took from that simple experience, but the biggest ones for me were that every interaction matters (professional or personal) and that it’s often the small things you do that make the biggest impact. I was inside the restaurant for 10 minutes, if that, but the small bit of extra effort that employee put forth is something I won’t forget.