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Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar
I was waiting in line
for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I
noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly
dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks,
the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger
door for me.
He handed me a
laminated card and said: 'I'm Wasu, your driver. While I'm loading your
bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.' Taken aback, I read the card.
It said:
Wasu's Mission Statement: "To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment."
This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!. As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'
I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'
Wasu smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.' Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take a Lassi.'
Handing me my drink, Wasu said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Hindu, Times of India, ET and India Today.'
As they were pulling
away, Wasu handed me another laminated card, 'These are the stations I
get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'
And as if that
weren't enough, Wasu told me that he had the air conditioning on and
asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.
Then he advised me of
the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me
know that he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or,
if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.
'Tell me, Wasu,' I was amazed and asked him, 'have you always served customers like this?'
Wasu smiled into the
rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last
two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time
complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about
power of choice one day.'
'Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.'
'If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. Stop complaining!'
'Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'
'That hit me right,' said Wasu.
'It is about me. I
was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude
and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their
drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some
changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I
did more.'
'I take it that has paid off for you,' I said.
'It sure has,' Wasu
replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the
previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. My customers call
me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.'
Wasu made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. And lastly
A great Thought..
"You don't die if you fall in water, you die only if you don't swim.
Thats the real meaning of life .
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