Simple gestures can make a customer go “wow”

In Cape Town, the Stonehurst Guest House provides simple, clean lodging in a lovely Victorian home with a central courtyard. The owner, Jan, is a kind artist who has run the inn for 30 years. Dan, the manager, and Maureen, the housekeeper, are friendly and accommodating. I chatted with each during my 3-day stay and found them friendly and helpful.

But it was something Jan did that made me go “Wow!”

On the second day, I was standing in the front hallway waiting for a local friend to pick me up and take me to his home for dinner. Jan saw me and came to chat while I waited. I told him of my dinner date and he asked if I had anything to take my friends, like a bottle of wine. I said I hadn’t had time to walk to the market to fetch one, and he said, “Wait right here and I’ll give you a bottle for them.”

Wow. He barely knew me and he was giving up one of his good bottles to these strangers. I was blown away, as were my friends when they saw the special variety.

In my travels domestically and abroad, I’m often bowled over by strangers’ kindness and generosity. It makes me want to pass it forward whenever I can. So when my Turkish friend Tamer asked today if his best friend’s teenaged daughter could come stay with me for a few weeks this summer, I immediately said yes. Tamer has been very generous with me, and I have received so much kindness from others when I’ve traveled, it was the only possible response. I will try to be as thoughtful as Jan, Tamer and so many others have been to me.