The real question is can you really catch more flies with honey?  And why would you want to catch more flies?  Not me!  But a loose translation of “nice things happen when you behave nicely” sounds a little better.

You hear a lot about people doing nice things for total strangers, otherwise known as random acts of kindness.  I think that’s awesome, and I wish I remembered to do it more often.

I recently had a great experience at Starbucks and it wasn’t because I had invented and ordered the largest and most obnoxious combination I could find.

My sister, Deb and I were meeting on the road midway between our respective homes.  She lives on the Texas coast and I live in Central Texas.

We met in the parking lot of a shopping center and after exchanging boxes and bags; we decided to grab a coffee for the road from the Starbucks across the street.

The store wasn’t particularly crowded when we walked in which looked promising.  However, when Deb tried to pay for her drink, the computers went down.  A manager came and took over the register but still couldn’t get the transaction to process.  My son and I were next in line and the barista and manager kept apologizing for the delay.

My son, Rich previously managed a retail store, so he just smiled and said he understood.  He assured them both that it was not a problem.  It was probably only 6 or 7 minutes of waiting. Rich entertained us all, the employees included, with jokes and stories. We all laughed and enjoyed ourselves despite the situation.

When my son and I were finally able to place our order, I handed them cash, since they seemed to still be having trouble with the card reader.

The manager shook his head and said, “No charge, you guys were great.  I’m sorry for the wait. ” What a wonderful surprise!  Maybe our drinks would still have been free if we had grumbled and complained, but the mood would certainly have been different for all of us.  (And yes my sister’s drink was also free!)

I’m not saying that I am never the grumbling complaining customer, but it was a wonderful reminder that sometimes being pleasant pays off.  Thank you Mr. Starbuck’s manager for making our day a little brighter!