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Inspiration
By: Patrick Maguire
Book Chapter: Introduction
Posted: 02/14/2012
It’s an interesting proposition to be confronted with the question, What inspires you? Stephen Torres, founder of the growing website, Imbibe + Inspire, posed this question to me during a recent interview. Here are some of my answers that made it into the interview, and a few relevant inspirations that didn’t:
- Having a mission that I am deeply committed to, Server Not Servant.
- Hardworking, good people.
- The subculture and camaraderie of hardworking people.
- Human dynamics and observing humans.
- Hospitality, and everything it encompasses.
- The trust that workers have in me to share their experiences and feelings.
- Advocating for service industry workers.
- George Plimpton, participatory journalist, a.k.a., “The Paper Lion”.
- Studs Terkel, author of, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.
- My late Dad, and his unwaivering work ethic (working 3 jobs to support a household of 12 people).
- My late Mom, her compassion, and ability to manage a household of 12 people with one bathroom…
- My loyal siblings, relatives and trusted friends.
- The late Maryanne Hooley.
What inspires you?
4 Responses to “Inspiration”
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Permalink | Posted in Introduction | 4 Comments »
This blog inspires me, citing examples, and helping meto be a more patient person and to find worth and humor in every person and situation, in work and in life. Thanks, Mags!
It was great to see the see and hear the man behind the posts.
I really think that your work has the potential help improve things for people on both sides of the counter. When reading your articles on human to human service I realized that if I acted bitter or resentful about my job when serving people, I had no right to complain if someone I was serving treated me badly because ultimately I was doing the same thing to my customers. When I stumbled upon your blog I was very pessimistic, but now I try to be an optimist, tho some days it’s not easy. I treat each transaction like a fresh slate, trying to forget the bad transactions and focus in on the good ones.
My inspiration is the possibility of fun, pleasant discourse, a joke and a smile from someone I’ve never met before. New people/customers are the life blood of staying in the business for the million (?) years I’ve been doing it.
It is easier to be civil, kind, and considerate. The interview was very inspiring–especially for someone back in the game (waiting tables) after a long absence. Thank you.