Frequently, at my engraving events I’ll have made the ‘last call’ shout a minute before the end of the event. I did that at the end of a then-record day of over 300 wine bottles in December 2011. No response. The event was over and I was beat. I pulled the plug and had my compressor in the case, about to head for home. Just then, a nice lady rounded the corner and asked if I could do two more bottles. I smiled and said yes, of course I would. As I did names on the bottles, I said, “Is this the Gary Kelly, President of Southwest Airlines?” She said he was.
Last month, a year and a half after that busy December day and the last-minute bottles for Carol Kelly, I wrote a little verse, engraved it on a tall cobalt blue Riesling wine bottle, and sent it to Gary at his corporate office. His response below speaks volumes.
That decision to say yes and accommodate the unknown customer ‘after hours’ was the right thing to do. This was a great lesson.
-Ken
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