After an unsuccessful journey through the mall searching for clothes that fit, I decided to have lunch in the food court. Just like every other food court in the United States, the longest line was at Chick-fil-a.

So, I took my position at the end of the line. After the dozen folks in front of me had ordered it was finally my time to grab hold of some chicken nuggets—a twelve pack. The ultra-nice Chick-fil-a waiter guy with his top shirt button tightly buttoned said “how can I help you today sir”?

Just as I was getting ready to voice my order this little rascal, maybe 8 or 9 years old, comes up out of nowhere and slams his 32 ounce, empty, drink cup on the counter and says,

“Hey man. Give me my free refill.”

The stunned, top buttoned waiter guy, having no memory of this little devil’s purchase of a drink, responds “young man, I don’t recall you purchasing a drink.

Where did you get that cup?”

The miniature gangster replied, “that sign up there don’t say nothing about ‘purchasing’—that sign say free refill”.  At this point I am so overtaken by this little monster’s entrepreneurial spirit that I am going to buy him a 32-ounce drink, and whatever else he wants, if the top button man rebuffs his efforts.

So, then the top button man replied, to my absolute glee, “you got a point”. And proceeded to fill the mini-headaches cup up with a brand-new drink.

Sometimes you should remember that life is about more than just business. Sometimes you must recognize those special events, and mini-monsters that make life a little more entertaining and a little better even if it costs you a soft drink. That young man with the buttoned-up shirt at Chick-Fil-a is going to go a long way—bet on it . . . so is the little con artist that scooped up the 32-ounce cup. And maybe, just maybe, because of the buttoned-up man, the lovable little character will buy some similar gangster a drink one day. That’s customer service for a non-customer or maybe customer service for a future customer.