Giving Thanks, Because You Can...

In the UK we don't celebrate thanksgiving as a nation, it's a concept I have only ever seen in movies or on TV. But as the ever-revolving door of one particular place I worked at, spun around, it brought with it a group of six Americans who were unusually quiet. I have always found American travellers to be several things; Polite - they always say yes, sir, or thank you, ma'am. Pretty good humoured and easy to laugh with, Curious - asking what you recommend or about the local area, and Chatty, basically everything that these men were not. I immediately noticed their different vibe.

As I brought their drinks over I thought I'd ask if they were ok, only one of them answered for the group. "It's Thanksgiving today, and we drew the short straw and had to work, we are really missing our families". "This guy..." The man gestured to his colleague across the table "He's just had a baby and it's his first thanksgiving, he wasn't there with his son for it". I felt a wave of sadness wash over me.

"I am so sorry," I said, "I wish you could be with your families, and I totally understand why you are all feeling miserable". One of the men asked me about the menu, and that's when an idea came into my head. We run a festive menu in late November and early December, which on this particular year was supposed to start the next day... I knew we had received our delivery of all the ingredients, and I excused myself from the men for a moment. I didn't know much about thanksgiving, but I did know that they eat turkey. We had our festive menu items prepped for the next day, and a turkey roast dinner was one of the dishes. I took a deep breath and went in to see the chefs (See previous blog post about chefs if you wonder why the deep breath was required) I went and pled my case and asked if we could do six roast turkey dishes just as a one-off a day early for the six American men; so that even though they were far from home they could have thanksgiving dinner on thanksgiving. To my delight and slight surprise, the chef agreed.

I went back to the table and told the men that we could do a roast turkey dinner as our festive menu (due to start tomorrow) was already prepped. They were absolutely thrilled. All of them opted for it, and their whole mood lifted. The best part however was when the food arrived, two of the men welled up and all of them began to take photos and ring their families. The man who was missing his wife and Newborn baby skyped her in the middle of the restaurant and showed her the roast turkey dinner, and then rather embarrassingly he turned the camera to me. "This is the lady who did this for us, and it's made our day!" he said, and his wife smiled and said, "Thank you for making their day so special" It was an absolute pleasure. The first gentleman I spoke to was one of the men who became emotional and as he wiped his eyes with a napkin he put out his hand, grasped mine, and said "You don't know how much this means to us, ma'am" He was right, I suppose I didn't but the one amazing thing about my job, is that you don't always need to understand something or to be part of the experience. Simply the act of bringing joy to others is what can fill your heart with joy. Something so small as a plate of roast turkey dinner meant so much to six strapping American air martials who were stranded far from home on what is a special day for all of their nation, and we were able to make it slightly more bearable for them. That is what our job is all about.

At the end of the meal, they realised that because they only had a one-night stopover they didn't have any pound coins for a tip, my colleague and I smiled and told them that just seeing how happy we made them was our tip. But the men were insistent, they pulled out their wallets and they gave us dollars instead. They just wanted to give us something and so they did. I kept my dollars for almost eight years and then took them with me on a holiday to San Francisco, when I pulled them out of my purse I wondered where those men were now, and if they remembered that thanksgiving dinner. One of them said to me before they left that night "I will never forget what you've done for us today" and I suspect he was telling the truth. When I pulled the dollar notes out of my purse all those years later and looked at them thought of that night and those men. I decided I didn't want to spend the dollars they gave me after all, and I put some of them back in my purse. I would rather keep the momento of that day and remember that a bit of effort goes a long way and can truly mean the world to someone. I still have the dollars even now, and every so often I look at them and smile.

Things I've learned from these experiences:

1. Thanksgiving as it turns out isn't just inspiring for Americans

2. Sometimes a small gesture can carry a huge amount of weight

3. If you see someone who is having a bad day try your best to improve it

4. Treasure a gift and when you look at it in the future maybe you will feel the experiences of the past.

5. You don't have to celebrate or believe in something to understand and enjoy it

6. Even big six-foot-tall American air martials will shed a tear when reminded of home, and you know what? That's ok, it means I've done my job well.