Life lesson: eat at the bar more often. You never know who you’ll meet.
Andy (on the right) is a consultant at Accenture. He’s from the U.K., has several patents (one of which helps automate the docking of sky bridges on airplanes, making everyone’s lives infinitely easier), has been to over 90 countries, speaks several languages, spends – by his own admission – half his day reading (hint hint), and has an extensive knowledge of Bond films, theater, and cocktails.
In short – he’s a cool ass dude.
Around 10 p.m., as dinner was winding down, we noticed a girl (Kathryn, middle) working in the bank across the street. She’d been diligently plugging away for a few hours and looked pretty tired.
“We should send her a care package,” Andy said, staring out the window.
“That’s an awesome idea. Let’s do it,” I replied.
We ordered a few tapas plates and some wine. The bartender – Lerone – jumped over the bar and ran with me across the street to deliver the goods. Given that Kathryn was sitting on the second floor, we decided throwing snowballs at the window was a good substitute for knocking on the door. She came downstairs, surprised someone was visiting at this hour.
“Hey!” Lerone and I said. “We noticed you working from across the street and wanted to bring you some eats. It might be a good way to unwind after a long day!”
Kathryn took the food, laughing and thankful. We moved to show everyone else in the restaurant waving through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Lerone and I returned to raucous applause and cheers. Everyone was stoked we could help spread some joy to someone’s life. Positivity has a way of being contagious.
A few minutes later, Kathryn showed up at OUR door – food in hand and grin on her face. Applause broke out again.
“I am still in shock at all of this,” she began. “And I need to take a picture with you guys, because none of my friends are going to believe me.”
And so it was.
Embrace “yes,” be positive, and seek to spread joy. Always.
❤ Ian
This post was originally published on January 6th, 2017
Ian Estabrook 