“Excuse me, I’m so sorry; I hate to interrupt.”

The conversation at my table stopped, and my husband, girlfriend, and I looked up to find a 30-ish woman standing in front of me. She was smiling with a determined look on her face.  Behind her stood a man with a young child. The woman leveled an index finger at me.

“It’s not like me to interrupt a conversation, but I can’t leave without thanking you for how you saved me last week right here in this coffee shop.”

I stared at her. She looked vaguely familiar, but no memory surfaced.

“I was here a week ago. I spilled my coffee everywhere.” She’d been at the shop with her 3-year-old when she dropped her cup on the floor. As she frantically cleaned up the mess and dealt with her upset child, I’d walked up to her.

“You touched my arm and smiled at me, and I’ll never forget, you said, I want to remind you that you can still have a good day.” The woman nodded. “I don’t know how, but that completely changed my morning.” She introduced me to her husband and daughter, thanked me again, and left.

I remembered the incident: watching her and thinking she was coming apart in ways that were more serious than spilled coffee. I didn’t consciously plan anything; I just went up to her and told her what I did hoping she could feel a little less stressed.

Just a reminder that one bad incident didn’t have to hijack her morning.
And then, I forgot about it. 

We never know the impact we have on each other.
Let’s keep giving away those lollipop moments.

If she hadn’t taken the time to interrupt us, I’d have NEVER known her side of the experience, how important it was to her.

Leadership educator Drew Dudley calls these special moments “Lollipop Moments” because of a similar situation that happened to him many years ago.

It’s been months now, and I still think about that young woman and the effect she had on me after she told us what happened – how we both gave each other a lollipop moment.

We never know the impact we have on each other.  Let’s keep giving away those lollipop moments.

Listen to Drew’s short TEDx on Everyday Leadership to learn more about Lollipop Moments.
I’d love to hear from you. If you want to delve deeper and take a test drive, you can email me here or schedule a conversation here.