So the morning of my birthday my family took me out to breakfast, technically it was lunch but it was breakfast for lunch- in case you don’t know, breakfast happens to be my favorite meal of the day and I don’t really care what time I eat it. Anyway, we were out to breakfast…and at the end of the meal my dad gives my youngest son Matthew, 6, the tip to give to our server.
Now, the restaurant was busy and she knew that we had already paid and so she wasn’t coming back to our table to check on us. This made it very difficult for Matthew to personally hand her the tip. She did however have another table to the left of ours and each time she came to serve them he hopped up and stood beside her to her left. And every time she did not notice him and turned to her right to walk back to the kitchen.
This happened three times. Each time she came to serve them he hopped up and stood patiently to her left and each time she did not see him and returned to the kitchen to her right. The next time she walks out of the kitchen Matthew promptly hops up, walks around our table and gets on the other side of her. This time when she turns to her right he is blocking her path to the kitchen. He politely holds out her tip and says thank you.
I think it is the coolest thing watching little minds work! He kept trying the obvious thing hoping to be noticed but after failing he came up with a solution. Most of us at the table suggested talk to her, poke her, get her attention, but he figured it all out on his own and I love the other way he found to get her attention- he watched her routine and he got in her way…ha! brilliant.
Lesson for us adults, if at first you don’t succeed, keep trying until you find another way that works.
