I have been reading a book by Seth Godin recently. It’s a compilation of posts he made between 2006 and 2012.
I think he’s a wickedly brilliant person and while I can’t say that all of his work resonates with me, much of it does.
There was an experiment he proposed which was to spend 30 days in a row blogging.
In his words: “…post once a day on how your favorite company can improve its products or services. Do it every day for a month; post one new, actionable idea each and every day. Within a few weeks, you’ll notice the change in the way you find, process and ship ideas.”
I’m modifying this challenge slightly by highlighting behaviors that are either positive or negative in the businesses I am a patron of.
Here is Day 1.
Over the last couple of years, my wife has been dealing with a rather inconvenient truth that she can no longer tolerate dairy or gluten.
She doesn’t have celiac disease but there is definitely something about gluten that sets her system off.
She has some other sensitivities as well but these are the ones we’ve found which have been the most troubling for her.
As a result, many dining establishments are off limits for her. It’s too difficult to navigate gluten and dairy when it comes to dining out, except sushi.
So, on the rare occasions that we eat at a restaurant, sushi has been the safest.
Of course, not all sushi is safe.
Soy sauce, for example, may have gluten in it so we have to make sure that we’ve considered that in her options.
I recently made reservations at a sushi restaurant for us and it was the first time in recent memory I’ve explicitly had someone ask me: “Do you have any dietary intolerances we need to know about?”
I was so pleased to hear the question that I thanked the staff member for asking.
“As a matter of fact, my wife can’t do gluten or dairy.”
“No problem, sir. Just remind your server that you need gluten free soy sauce and I made a note about it as well on your reservation.”
“Thank you so much. It’s extremely helpful.”
Perhaps that’s a question more restaurants could or should be asking.
While I don’t have the same dietary concerns that my wife does, it does benefit me when she’s not ill within minutes or hours of eating a meal.
And yes, I know that many dining establishments post a sign up which might say something along the lines of cross-contamination so that customers are aware.
Others post up a sign that advises customers to let the server know about any intolerances.
But when it comes to actually asking each individual person who calls in or visits the restaurant, I think that’s the rarity.
Which is funny to me, because I feel as if intolerances and allergies are at a relative high.
Imagine if I didn’t ask my clients at my gym if they had any injuries they needed me to work around.
Imagine if a client came to me for nutrition coaching and we never discussed food allergies or intolerances.
It would make for a rather frustrating experience.
So, here’s my shout out to Sushi En in Twinsburg.
Thank you for the “extra step” in consideration of people like my wife.
(Photo courtesy of Jamie Street)
