Yearly Archives: 2010

The Wait

I recently stopped to order some lunch to-go at an Asian deli that is newly opened and not too far away from me. Bethany and I had been there to eat-in once before and were blown away by the quality of the food as well as the general vibe of the staff. The Pad Thai was so good that we had been thinking about it ever since.

I walked in and was greeted warmly by the kind young man behind the counter. I placed my order and gave him my card to pay. As he was running it through I mentioned we had been in before and how much we enjoyed the Pad Thai. He mentioned that it must have been when he was not there because he remembers every face, which I confirmed was indeed the case. He let me know that it would be ready soon, directed me to a comfortable place to sit with reading material, and offered me a glass of water while I waited.

I sat down, pulled out my iPhone, fired up Instapaper, and waited. Not more than ten minutes had passed and, as he was delivering another order, he stopped to apologize for the wait (what wait?) and that my order would be ready as soon as possible. I let him know that all was cool with me (like I said, what wait?) no distress needed. Less then five minutes later he called me up for my order. Before handing it to me he placed a can of soda in the bag and proceeded to explain that he was sorry for the wait, that normally they are much faster, and the free soda was to make up for that.

It was less then 15 minutes between placing my order and having it in hand.

I did not feel like I waited an inordinately long time. I displayed no sense of urgency, either as I ordered (as the casual conversation I was striking up denotes) nor as I waited (Instapaper, FTW!!!). Therefore, his sense of urgency and expectations were not being set by me, the customer. And that’s when it hit me.

Greatness comes when one sets standards for their own results that are far higher then anyone expects and they strive to meet those consistently.

This young man obviously had a standard he set for service that was far higher then I had placed upon him. When he felt he had not met it, he let me know that. While it was not beneath my expectations, it was his and he apologized and compensated where appropriate. In fact, if he maintains this, he will likely never have a customer that can’t be satisfied.

It was more than great Pad Thai that won this business a customer for life in me. It was also more than a free can of soda. It was this lesson in greatness that I will now take and apply wherever I can.

Writing Advice (To My Younger Self)

I recently had the extreme pleasure of being interviewed by Ian Hines for is wonderful new project, Intrvws. Ian is an extremely skilled interviewer especially via email. He takes his time developing smart questions and is very comfortable letting people take a while to think about and compose an answer. As evidence, our interview was conducted via email between August 1 and October 4, 2010 (Two months!). I’m incredibly proud of having been a part of it.

I really urge you to read the whole thing, but I wanted to post a particular section here. It is the writing advice I wish I had given my younger self. I encounter young and just starting writers all the time and have given them all manner of hodgepodge advice.Henceforth, I will point them to this:

Ian:

I wonder, if you had the opportunity to send some advice to your younger self to read as you were first beginning to write on the web, what would it be?

Patrick:

Focus on writing well. Read as many posts and books on writing as you need to learn the craft without letting it distract you from, well, writing. Because, after a certain point, no book or post or advice will ever help you as much as putting those words down.

Also learn how to edit your writing to turn it into something other than a collection of words ordered according to some universally agreed to rules. Because some of those rules should be broken. In fact, many should have never been agreed to in the first place. Because those rules can stifle you from finding your own voice if followed too rigidly. More often than not, what you will be editing out of your writing is the rules.

Spend at least twice as much time editing as you do writing. Slave over every detail, sweat every word and punctuation mark. Read what you write over and over again. In fact, never stop yourself from revisiting something you wrote and improving or expanding on it if you feel it would make it better. Even something as simple as adding a comma where there should have been one can change the feel of an entire essay.

Be curious about everything but find one or two things that your are insatiably curious about and interested in. A subject or two that you can never know too much, or think too deeply, about. Write about these things.

Also, ignore the numbers. Ignore the audience. Ignore the fact that, for a very long time, no one may be reading. Just make sure that you are. Be your own biggest fan (when warranted) and harshest critic (when warranted).

Finally, do what I say, not what I do.

Doing The Dishes

Confession; I like doing dishes. I find it very meditative.

I like doing them late at night, before bed, alone. I like the warmth of the water. I like the smell of the dish soap. I turn on our under-the-counter radio and listen to the BBC on Minnesota Public Radio. It is just me, the task at hand, and the news delivered calmly, with balance, and a proper tongue.

I perform each step in a particular, rarely wavering, order.

1. Unload the bottom rack of the dishwasher.
2. Unload the top rack of the dishwasher.
3. Rinse the dishwasher safe plates, glasses, and silver and load each in their proper place.
4. Fill the sink with soap.
5. Wash each item in order from cleanest to dirtiest.
6. Empty and rinse out the sink.
7. Wipe down the counters and oven.

I find solace in the structure of these actions performed rigidly so that my thinking is focused and somehow still. When my brain is relaxed in this way I find that my body follows suit.

I’m sure we all have tasks like this. Some of us weed the garden. Some of us knit. Some of us mow the lawn or shovel snow. These tasks that we get lost in almost by design due to their repetitive nature. In these times we drift into the order and let our minds go.

We often don’t think of these as moments of meditation but it often has the same mental and physical effect. We are busy doing nothing yet doing something all the same. The more we can identify these times of productive meditation, the more we can make sure to enjoy them for what they are.