A story about a kid with a garbage cart

Sounds like a real page-turner eh, a kid with a garbage cart? Well let me tell the story and you be the judge...

Recently, following a late night workout, I was in the mood for some ice cream. Yes, I recognize the irony of that statement but let me get on with my story.

I wasn't in the mood for just any ice cream though, I really wanted an Ice Dream from Chick-fil-A with the chocolate sauce. It's pretty fantastic. Unfortunately as I drove up, I noticed the drive-thru lights were off and they were obviously closed.

About the time I was noticing this, a teen-aged employee was in the process of pushing a garbage cart, like the one above, full of garbage to the dumpster. However, when he saw my car, he stopped what he was doing and walked over to my window.

Stooping down, he proceeded to apologize for the fact that they were closed and then wished me a good evening.

Really?

Would that have happened at McDonald's or Burger King? I highly doubt it. Because those restaurants are in the business of transferring systems, whereas Chick-fil-A seems to be in the business of transferring a clear value structure from the top down. This explains why I became more important in that moment to a teenager who could've easily ignored me and simply finished his garbage duties so he could go home. Why did he care about me? Because he works in an environment where that sort of idea is encouraged.

Startling isn't it?

Chick-fil-A knows WHY they are in business. And not only do they know their WHY, but they're also extremely effective at transferring their WHY in the form of their values to the kid pushing the garbage cart.

Amazing. Why do they get it and yet it seems to be such a mystery to everyone else?