Three Stories of Great Customer Service

Generosity, my wife often says, is one of the most important things in a marriage. Doing the little things -- putting extra ice in a drink, taking the dog out when it's below freezing, giving a massage when you actually need one -- makes a huge difference.

That mantra holds true for relationships outside of marriage, too. And this past week -- our anniversary week -- we've benefitted from three wonderful examples of customer service:

1. On Tuesday, I thought of the perfect anniversary gift for Bridget. (We hadn't planned on doing anything big because we're saving for Baby Briddon.) My idea was simple: I wanted a graphic keepsake that incorporated my wedding vows. I turned to my friend, Alex, who turned to his friend, Danny, who has a fantastic new business. Danny takes classic books and creates amazing pieces of art. Called Litographs, he prints the entire book within the image on a poster or a book. Decorating a nursery? How about The Wizard of Oz?  Need a gift for a book-lover? Try The Great Gatsby. Check out the whole collection. Danny took my idea, made it into the memorable piece of art above, and refused any kind of compensation for the rush order. The gift made Bridget cry and and made me realize just how kind some people really are.

2. We went stroller shopping a couple weeks ago at a place called Magic Beans in Cambridge. We weren't going to buy, but just felt like we needed to start rolling them around a little bit. One of the staff members, Michelle, spent what felt like 30 minutes with us answering every question we could imagine. She was patient, friendly, and incredibly knowledgable. Nice, right? Well, the reason I'm writing about it is because we received a hand-written "thank-you" card and a $20 gift card from Michelle a few days ago just for stopping in the store. Think we'll buy there? Yeah, me too.

3. We celebrated our anniversary in Chatham and didn't have the best luck with food. To make a long story short, I ordered something that turned out to be a lamb stew. I hate stews. A lot. So, with hopes of turning things around, we went to this little hole-in-the-wall place called the Hangar B Eatery at the municipal airport. The food was spectacular -- probably the best breakfast we've ever had. But what really made the difference was the three, free delicious blueberry muffins we got for having to wait an extra 15 minutes because of the crowd.

Generosity, it seems, is still alive and well. And its made the last week our lives -- which included our first anniversary as a married couple -- that much better.