Eagle or Duck?

Every day I sit at my desk and think about what I could blog about this week. What valuable information would my community be interested in today? Yes, I am a Chula Vista resident as well. I live and work in Otay Ranch and my children go to school in our fine public schools. They play youth sports and attend the rec center activities. So I do know first hand what our community has to offer. So when I sit down to write my blogs I do consider my neighbors, my friends, my associates, and all of you.

So here I am today, wondering what piece of mind blowing information I could give you. Hahaha... I know, Eastlake High School Football is AMAZING! Otay Ranch Youth Football Jr Midget team is ranked #1 in the county right now and is headed to game 2 of the divisional playoffs against rival Eastlake Panthers this weekend. By the way, the game is at 4:00 pm at Otay Ranch High School (should be a GREAT game!) Our Middle School kids just received their 2nd progress reports. Did all you parents get them?... But, no, there has got to be more. And then it came to me, in an email this morning from a colleague.

Regardless our our social or economic situation, we are all facing the same challenges today. These have been some difficult times. So I would like to share this story with you. It is a little long, but worth it. Think about it, embrace it, and try to incorporate it into your daily life. I may not be a cab driver, but I will go home everyday now, and first before yelling at my kids, "why aren't your rooms clean?" or "is your homework done?", it will be "Mom's home, who wants a hug? I love you!" That is how I've let this story change my life. How will it change yours?


“No one can make you serve customers well. That’s because great service is a choice.”

Years ago, my friend, Harvey Mackay, told me a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said: “I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.” Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally’s Mission Statement:

“To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.”

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.” My friend said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.” Wally smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.” Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.” Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.” As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.” And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts. “Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the rearview mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called “You’ll See It When You Believe It”. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, “Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.” “That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.” “I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said. “It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”
Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. The above is based on a true story. This cabbie is based out of NY City. And I personally and truly love such customer service. Give it a thought, how true it is. How many times we just start our day by complaining; – “Oh No! It’s a Monday.” And then go feeling miserable the entire day. How many times, have we got up in the morning, felt the excitement within and exclaimed “This is going to be the BEST day of my life”. Now even if after saying that you seem to not have a good day then turn around and do say and feel “This too shall pass”. At the end of the day, go to bed content that you know and feel right from the bottom of your heart that you have done the best you could. At the end of it, you will be the one who would have changed your own life forever.