A major change of plans and another revelation...

For the past several days, I had an appointment with my hairdresser, Sadie. I looked forward to seeing her, having her work on my hair as she does a fabulous job. My appointment was scheduled for today at 11 a.m. but when I arrived, I quickly discovered she hadn't. No phone call to me informing me she wouldn't be able to make, no follow up, no nothing. Am I upset? You bet!

The good news is the salon owner herself stepped up to the plate. Apologizing profusely over Sadie lack of "professionalism" by not following through with me, she offered to work on my hair herself, offering me a 5:30 p.m. appointment which would make her own workday longer, or a 11:00 a.m. appointment for tomorrow which she normally doesn't do on Sundays, but was willing to above and beyond the call of duty to keep her salon name in good standing with me. I truly appreciated her effort and after discussing our schedule with Don, I quickly returned a telephone call to her to let her know she could cut her own workday shorter and that if she didn't really mind, I'd keep the Sunday appointment for 11 a.m. I felt reassured knowing she needed to be in the salon tomorrow anyways for cleaning, making me feel a lot better about having to put her out! Now, that my friends is great customer service and she even acknowledged it as such telling me, "Thank you for giving my salon another chance." She quickly realized I could have went anywhere else and had the services done.

What does this have to do with anything that I am doing? It is an excellent reminder that if I, myself, am not doing something that there is someone else out there who will quickly step up and take my place! No one person is truly replacable per se but their goods and services are!

It reminds me to be accoutable for my actions, to be true to my words. To accept the responsibility that goes with any endeavor and to be willing to go above and beyond the call of duty and to do whatever it takes to keep those I intend to work with happy and satisfied with their dealings with me.