Over the past few weeks, in reading and searching and head-scratching and debating and hypothesizing the subject of Surprise, I have kinda lost sight of its core value. And that is:
Surprise Shocks Euphorically!
Go figure I would rediscover this...at the airport, of all places. But it wasn't two hours ago, after landing from New York, that I was hit with a double dose.
- My wife and I checked one bag. And it was the FIRST ONE through the rubber-strip curtain and onto the belt. Frankly, I never believed there was a real "first bag"; I always thought that it was a decoy, a prop, sent out to alert those waiting that perhaps something like this belonging to them will be coming soon. Perhaps.
- We did some shopping, and went over the spending limit allowed by Customs by a relatively substantial manner. I declared this overage, and was ready to pay the duty and fees associated with it (I learned my lesson last year when I forgot to declare a $100 t-shirt I bought as a gift and paid the price not just by losing my Canpass privileges, but by being subjected to a search so thorough that the only thing missing was an anal probe). Instead, when we got to the checkpoint, we were--are you sitting?--waved through with a smile and a "Have a nice day!"
Unimportant? Trite? Of course, but who ever said that Surprise has to be serious and substantial? Two stupid little deviations from the norm and I'm having a great day! Don't underestimate the power of even the smallest Surprise in everything you and your business do.
(Oh, and on top of this, the bill for my car maintenance--I picked it up on the way home from the airport--was about half of what I expected. Jeez, I'm gonna go get me a lottery ticket...)