Elizabeth at Vittles and Joe

If you find yourself in Hackensack, Minnesota anytime soon, be sure to bring yourself and your appetite to a little establishment called Vittles and Joe.  Their specialty is a heaping plate of steaming, homemade blueberry pancakes like you can get no other place, and while the calories of said meal are likely of your daily allowance variety, they're worth every damn bite. 

Trust me, you won't be disappointed in either those vittles, or their joe.

And, in the event you have her as your waitress, you won't be disappointed with Elizabeth, either.

At a recent breakfast with a buddy, I was struck how Elizabeth approached our table.  She did so looking each of us in the eye, and offering us a huge, genuine smile.  It stood out so much (think about it - how many times in the past have you had someone in the hospitality or retail industry REALLY smile at you) that I watched how she interacted with other tables.

We weren't a fluke.  Every table, and every interaction with that table was done with this massive smile.  And when she left the table and her back was turned, that smile didn't leave.  

Holy smokes, who does that?!

By the time our meal had ended, I was so struck that I had to go up to Elizabeth and ask if I could take her picture as I wanted to write about her.  She smiled (imagine that) and agreed.  Hence the photo above.

In the time since my meal, I've had three pressing thoughts.

1. The power of a sincere, genuine smile cannot be overstated.  It taps into a core human emotion and absolutely, positively changes things and makes them better.  Think about that for a minute: it changes things and makes them better.  Talk about powerful.
2. I'm convinced that if I had an army of Elizabeths and a retail or hospitality business, I'm quite confident that I could conquer the world.
3. I wonder what is stopping me from being an Elizabeth 

For the first time ever, my waitress left me with a tip.  Now it is up to me to spend it wisely.