The Date:September 2,
2009, 11:35 a.m. Mountain Standard Time
The Place:Enterprise Car Rental Desk, DenverInternationalAirport
The Human
Form:Female; early
30's; brunette
Dear
Girlfriends,
As I stood
at the car rental counter, digging in my briefcase, I told the agent, "Let me
find my confirmation number for you." For several minutes, he searched for our
reservation and I could tell something was amiss. The car rental area was
packed with vacationers who, like Steve and me, had arrived to spend the Labor
Day weekend amidst a backdrop of aspen trees and the Rocky
Mountains. But first, we needed a car to get us out of the
airport!
While I
fumbled with my folder, a lovely young brunette floated up to the agent and
stood with him as he searched for my name in the reservation system. She
flashed a smile of confidence as she took my confirmation from me and then, looking
into my eyes, something like pity flashed across her face. "This is Enterprise," she said; "your
reservation is at National."
Oh.
Of course.
I travel monthly and always, my car reservation is with National. But in the
excitement of "vacation mode," I hopped with Steve onto the GREEN Enterprise
bus rather than the GREEN National bus to take us to the offsite car rental
area. What a goof ball.
I
apologized for the mistake, then with Steve exited the building. Standing on
the sidewalk, we assessed our options, neither of which were pretty; option A:
Get back on the Enterprise
bus, travel back to the airport, and wait for a National bus, or option B: Walk
with our luggage down the road (no sidewalks, mind you) to the National car
terminal. As we walked toward the bus, my angel appeared at my side. "Mrs.
Miller, Mr. Miller! May I take you over to National?" I stared at her, thinking
to myself, "Are you kidding me?"
The heavenly
being popped the trunk on a car parked in front of us and opened the back doors
of the sedan, waiting for us to take our seats. As she slid in behind the
wheel, Steve and I stared at each other in shock. All the way to the National
station, she chatted with us on a host of topics and insisted, all the while,
that this wasn't a big deal. But it was.
I watched
her serve us - people who weren't even
her customers - and I was in awe. In awe of her servant's heart; in awe of
her grace at such a young age; and in awe that she would desire to go to such an extreme to help us. As someone who is
disappointed daily by the lack of customer service extended me by those
companies I patron and as a leader of a company, a company with many clients, I
soaked up her spirit of customer kindness.
. . . but the one who
is the greatest among you must become like the youngest,
and the leader like
the servant. Luke
22: 26
Trina, my
enterprising angel, reminded me that we can all go a lot further for those we
serve - our peers, our team members, our family, our customers - and for this
leader, I was reminded to go the distance for those who expect it least.
Learning
from a real servant,
Ellen
Posted by Ellen on December 16, 2009 9:44 AM
| Category: An Angel Bombing
Loved the Angel Bombing story and can imagine your sheer relief when the Enterprise lady came to your assistance. But it doesn't surprise me that an Enterprise employee would volunteer to help you out like that.
After working at Enterprise's corporate headquarters for a short time, I discovered that that kind of attitude is rampant among their employees, from the bottom to the very top.
Dear Ellen,
I have been reading your articles for some time now. I live in Allen, TX and I really enjoy your writings, especially the present series, "Angel Bombing". I would like to tell you about an "Angel Bombing" my husband, Guy and I experienced a couple of weeks ago.
We were in KFC ordering our quickie dinner and a man appeared at our sides. He asked my husband if he was in the Marine Corps, my husband replied that he had served 27 years and had retired in 1995. The man said that he, too had served but only for 3 years. They exchanged a few more words and by that time we had finished putting in our order for supper. The man whips out his bank card and said, "here let me buy your supper, Happy Holidays." He shook my husband's hand and said thanks for serving and then he left. We just kind of stood there looking at each other. What a nice thing for a stranger to do. I do feel that was an angel moment.
Just wanted to share. Keep up the great writing it is a real incentive for many.
Regards,
Connie Ambrose
Just wanted to share with you that a girlfriend and I was looking for a book that she and I could share together. We went into Lifeway Christian Bookstore and this book LEAPED of the shelf into our hands. After all we are girlfriends. This book has inspired me so much that I've started a blog with my comments, feelings, and my own experiences. It has started out just for the two of us but is now being shared with other of our friends etc. I've bought several of these books to share with friends.
Thank you for the inspiration. I'm really enjoying this book.
