PRIDE LOVE CARE
This theme may
sound like New Age Monday, but it’s not. Last week, I had the chance to be with
the folks from Whataburger. If you haven’t heard of them, it’s just because you
don’t live where they are.
65 years age,
Harmon Dobson had a simple goal. He wanted to create a burger so big that you
had to eat it with two hands. He wanted that burger to be so good that when you
bit into it you would say, “Whatabuger.” He and his wife Grace built a company
that is still family owned and the 8th largest burger business in
the US.
Fortunately
for me they are open 24-7 and will make your sandwich however you like. They
have biscuits that still make me think of my mother. It’s not that my mother’s
biscuits were delicious, it’s because whenever we were on a road trip and she
saw the orange W she made sure we stopped to get them.
My children
still laugh at how she thought every burger place had biscuits, 24-7 and would demand to know
why they didn’t.
I’m a
vegetarian, so I’m not writing about burgers and I really don’t need another biscuit,
but what the folks at Whataburger are serving we all need.
Pride, Care and Love are not words to a conference theme;
it is their mission. The family, as they all call themselves are devoted to
take pride in their work, care for themselves and one another and love what
they do and the people they serve. WOW!
I am still
moved by the folks I met and by the family teams that gathered to honor one
another. They were every color, orientation, age and gender, often led by women
and they were united.
I’m sure
they have their difficult days and weeks, but the very fact that they elevate
the food service industry with Pride, Caring and Love is enough to make you
feel like things are going to be okay.
I’m hoping
that this thing spreads. I hope the very thought elevates us all to make
something other than money our mission and goal. Money follows the mission.
What can
your simple goal be? Can you be so loving that folks say Whatawoman?
Can you care
so much that your team says Whataboss?
Can you
smile so hard that folks say Whatjoy?
I want to do
better. I want to take even more pride in my work, love what I do and the people
I serve and I want to care and be compassionate about every encounter I have.
If we all strive to be
a little bit better, we will be able to say “WHATAWONDERFULWORLD.”
Be you, be better, be
love
Bertice Berry, PhD
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