Episode 22: It was the shaved ice that was wrong. But something else was what really stung my heart.

This is a story from when I met up with a close friend just the other day.

“Come to think of it, when I went to the family restaurant where you work, I ordered the Shine Muscat flavored shaved ice, but when I ate it, matcha flavor came out from inside! 😂” she told me while laughing.

“I thought maybe you were doing flavor changes lately. But my kid said it was delicious, so it wasn't a complaint at all, just a funny story, you know?”

…I was in total shock when I heard that.

Even though she was laughing while telling me, inside, I apologized over and over again, saying,
**“That’s not okay. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”**

If I had been there, I would have remade it immediately.
To serve the wrong product… I couldn't help but feel frustrated.

I was saved by my friend who laughed and said, “No, it’s fine.”

“But if it had tasted bad or my kid had gotten upset, I would have told the staff, but it was actually delicious!”

…She’s so kind.
But I felt so frustrated, so incredibly frustrated.

When I told her that, she said, “You’re the only one who works with such high standards, [Name].”
“There’s no one else, you’re truly amazing.”

But the fact that I was seen that way… made me feel a little lonely.

I’m just working with the thought of “I want the customers to be happy.”.
I don’t feel like I’m doing anything special at all.

But, are there actually few people who work with that kind of feeling?
I want to believe.
That I’m not the only one working with these feelings.

And then I suddenly thought.
Should I tell the manager about this?

But… how should I tell them?
What if they think, “So, what’s your point?”

Not for my own sake, but for the customers.
And for the sake of the restaurant.
I just want to let them know that this happened.

But even then, if I’m thought of as “worrying too much about small things,” I’m afraid I’ll get hurt again…

In the end, I thought, “I’ll just be more careful myself,” and swallowed it down.

But I’m glad I wrote it here.
If there is someone out there somewhere who is also working with the thought of “I want to make the customers happy,”
then I can feel like I want to keep doing my best.

Afterword message

Surely, it's just shaved ice, yet it's more than just shaved ice.
The reason a single mistake shakes my heart this much
is proof that I am 'working with all my heart'.

#CustomerService
#FamilyRestaurantWork
#CustomerSmilesAreEverything
#PrideInMyWork
#ThisIsWhatWorkingSeriouslyMeans
#TearingUpWhileWritingNote
#ThingsThatMadeMeFrustrated