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ChangingMinds Blog! > Blog Archive > 21-Oct-18

Sunday 21-October-18

Dropping phones and tipping opportunities

We were in Bar Harbor recently and took a tourist trip up Cadillac Mountain in the beautiful Acadia national park. All was going well until the was a shriek from the back of the trolley. 'I dropped my phone!' squeaked a lady who had been meaning our and taking photos.

Jim, our driver and guide, said sorry but park regulations prohibited him from stopping. He sounded like this was a regular event. We carried on up the mountain and the lady got lots of sympathy from the other passengers.

The views at the top were truly great and we headed back down. The interesting part happened when Jim pulled in near where the lady had lost her phone. He said, "It's illegal for me to stop here, but I'm going to give us a few moments to look for your phone." We all peered out but there was no sign on the phone.

Apologizing again, Jim set off again. Down the mountain, he stood by the door, helping people off, saying goodbye and, of course, collecting tips.

What effect would you say our pause to look for the lost phone had on Jim's tips? Yes, I thought so too. The key word was 'illegal'. In saying this, Jim indicated he was prepared to break the law, risking his job and liberty, just to help his passengers. What a wonderful man! Definitely deserves more dollars for such sacrifice!!