Another Encounter To Talk About

Mama calls it self-imposed equality. I call it self-imposed inequality.

I happened to drop by a Minute Burger stall on a Tuesday night. I figured out I should munch some dinner before going home. So I ordered two double burgers with coleslaw and eggs.

When the burgers were halfway done, the attendant checked her freezer to get some eggs. There were none. She could have checked beforehand but she opted to check it when the burgers were almost ready. I thought, 'No problem'. There was a convenience store nearby and I could buy some eggs there. So I told her I'll be back for the burgers.

When I came back with eggs, she told me she couldn't cook them. Her employer was nearby and it was bawal. I would have loved to check her rulebook for that rule but I didn't take my burgers when she asked if I was still buying them.

What's my point? Well, the employee could have seen this encounter as a sales opportunity. Here she had a customer willing to go the extra mile by buying his own eggs (that sounded funny). She could have accepted my offer to have the eggs cooked, charged me P5.00 for the 'use' of the grill, and I would have just shrugged my shoulders. At least, I had my burgers with coleslaw and eggs. Instead, she lost a sale because she couldn't, wouldn't accommodate my request.

She could also have provided me with advance notice that eggs were out. She was in charge of inventory after all and it was so easy to check her freezer before cooking those burgers.

Mama and I discussed about this the following morning and she concluded that, perhaps, what accounts for the great divide between the rich and the poor is purely a difference in mindsets. It boils down to a person's mentality. The opportunities are every present; it's simply a matter of recognizing these and utilizing these opportunities. 

In the case above, the employee never had a chance. She wasn't thinking like her amo would, who would probably be happy if she converted one cooking effort into a sale despite missing some eggs. It also probably explains why some employees do remain employees and some persons go out to becoming successful businesspeople.