Skill set

The other day, I was waiting in line at a fast-food restaurant. When it came time for me to order, an attendant with the "drive-thru" headset on told me, "Kindly hold, I will be right with you." I was in no hurry, so it did not bother me.

What she did in the following minute and a half was so incredible that even now I can't believe I saw it all. She proceeded to take three orders through the drive-thru headset, two of them one after the other, and the other she inherited from another person at the console who had to leave. I knew she was listening to the headset because of the distant look in her eyes, yet the rest of her danced across that greasy foodservice-grade floor with such effortlessness it was as if she had the whole thing choreographed. Her hands knew instinctively where everything was: the handles and knobs to the hot surfaces of the trays, the point-of-sale console, the debit card device where she had to swipe for two payments, and the boxes. Before I even realized, she handed off three finished packages to two different places: two to two different attendanta who were tasked with giving it to someone who had parked, and the other two out the window. The amazing thing was she remembered the appearance of both cars, and which order belonged to which car.

After this mystifying performance, she went back to the counter and smiled. "How may I help you?" I couldn't help it; before I placed my order I said, "First of all, that was amazing." ^_^

She demonstrated something that I already knew for a long time: Everyone has a skill set--some certain number of things that a person is good at. The attendant from the other day is not likely to know how to play the piano. But her manner at the service floor of that restaurant is something I could never hope to duplicate, even if I had been working there a full year. Why? Perhaps I am just a naturally slow person, who wouldn't be able to handle something like that. In fact, if I worked there, I predict I would be stuck out back at the kitchen, cooking. Or maybe not even that; I'd probably be washing utensils and loading the stockroom.

One of my professors laments that he does not have enough time in his life to study everything he was interested in. After having reflected on that notion for a while, I can now say that I agree.

Thanks for reading.

Song in my head: Rascal Flatts, "Here Comes Goodbye".