The Great Pineapple on Pizza Debate
I used this photo and title to get your attention because I‘m willing to bet you feel strongly about pineapple on pizza; as in, you either love it or hate it. I love it—don‘t judge.
About a week ago, I met a friend for dinner. Since I’ve started selling my book, a lot of friends have said, “Hey, let’s meet up for dinner and I’ll buy your book in person.” This is great in one way, and not so great in another. It’s great because it forces the hermit (me) to leave the house and spend time with friends. The not so great part is that they ask me where I’d like to go and I pick my favorite pizza joint, with the intent of, “Oh, I’ll just get a salad this time.” Guess who’s gotten a salad AND pizza every time? So much for keeping in shape. Next time a friend wants to meet up, I will suggest we meet for coffee.
Anyway, I met this friend outside of the restaurant; we went in, and the hostess seated us. A young girl (I’d say about 20 years old) came to our table and took our drink order. She brought our drinks to us and then took our dinner order. We talked for a long time and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the company. Throughout this time, I noticed that our waitress, the young girl I previously mentioned, was quiet and never smiled. I thought to myself that her personality didn’t really seem to fit in with her line of work. She did a great job, continuing to check on us periodically to make sure we had all we needed, but she really didn’t seem happy to be there. When it was time to pay the bill, I found out why.
My friend picked up the tab (thanks!) and told our waitress to keep the change. “The rest is for you,” she said. A few minutes later, the waitress came back and asked, “Did you mean to give me this much? It’s an awful lot.” My friend, who used to wait tables and understands that waiters make their living from tips, told her, “Yes, it’s for you.” The waitress replied, “It’s too much.” When my friend told her, “I want you to have it,” the young girl’s voice trembled as she said, “You don’t know how much this means to me. I’ve had a bad day. I didn’t even want to come in tonight.” The tears began to flow as she followed up with, “We had to put our cat down today.” OUCH. MY HEART.
I thought about my initial impression of this young girl and I felt like a heel for assuming she was a quiet and unenthusiastic person. The poor girl was grieving her beloved pet while trying to hold it together at work. It made me think of all the times I’ve had personal things going on and had to put a smile on my face and handle responsibilities when all I really wanted to do was go home and try to deal with whatever was on my mind.
As cliché as this sounds, and as much as it’s been said, I will say it anyway: Be kind because you never know what someone may be going through. We get so caught up in what we’re doing that we often interact robotically with people. We look at them, but we’re not really seeing them.
My friend felt good about what she had done and both of us got choked up over it. Generosity and kindness was exactly what our waitress needed and came at just the right time. My theory is that you can never go wrong by being nice to people. Having also been a waitress (I was horrible at it…it’s a hard job), and feeling the need for a quick soapbox moment, I also think you can never go wrong by being a generous tipper.
My belief is that if you are kind and generous to the world, the world will be kind and generous back. And even if the world doesn’t reciprocate, at the very least, being a nice person feels good and who doesn’t like feeling good?
