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Finding your Gem
Last week I found myself in Thunder Bay, the port where Canada’s wheat and rocks find their way to the rest of the world. Anyone who lives in or has visited Thunder Bay knows this translates to two very cool local things – Finnish pancakes and Amethyst.
On a beautiful sunny and warm fall day, I ended up at one of the amethyst mines just outside of town. Here they let rockhound leaning tourists and average passers-by like me clamour over the piles of rocks remaining from the mining operations.
Armed with my safety googles, hammer and chisel, and my prospecting attitude, I checked in with the woman managing the tourist side of the place. She gave me a big smile and a giant pail and trowel and walked me down the hill to the first of the piles where she pointed me to the rest of the trails. She left me to my lifting and digging wits with wishes of good luck.
During my amateur mining time, what struck me wasn’t the chunks of the purple gem gleaming out of rocks. It was customer service. The manager was full of passion for her work and enthusiasm for me to get the most out of my visit. She does this same introduction a hundred times a day and each person heads into the pits with the same smile and excitement. When it was finally time to stop turning over boulders, I told her I had been trying to leave for over an hour. She laughed and confided that even though she works there she’s spent many days off searching the piles.
Over these next few weeks, think about your time at the rock pile. Is your enthusiasm obvious to your colleagues and customers? Are you a gem at work or home? Take a moment to consider how much you appreciate the gleam of what you do every day.
[For those of you wondering… more about what I learned about customer service from Finnish pancakes in a future note.]
Have a great couple of weeks! 
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If you missed the last Expect Everything, read it HERE.
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Paul is a professional speaker and writer with an odd background of corporate work, arts management, training in adult ed and counselling, singing in the opera, and acting. He creates and delivers very funny keynotes, including the one-of-a-kind keynote "The Ultimate Ending / Paul's World Famous Conference Ending Summary".
Paul Huschilt's Expect Everything is a randomly periodic newsletter of his musings, commentary, ideas, videos, and fun and interesting things. If you've received this from a friend, be sure to thank them, then click here to sign-up for your own copy.
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