I remember the exact moment when, Michaela Cox, made her first immense impact on my life.
I had watched her over our first few months of working together, and I had admired her love for her grandparents as they routinely visited our Texas Roadhouse to dine. Having had a great relationship with my own grandparents, it was something that we could readily relate to one another on.
If you’ve never worked in a restaurant, or another service industry, I don’t know if you’ll fully understand what I’m about to say. Arguably, with the amount of college-aged people employed at TRH, crying was an occurrence that seemed to happen all too frequently. Whether it was a rude customer, a bad test score, a wild request at closing time, or a failed college relationship, things always seemed to be a rollercoaster. Having come straight off of active duty military, this milieu immediately came as a culture shock to me.
Our group of friends at TRH had been tight-knit. When I look back at my time there, I’m thankful to have had that cohort. I learned a lot, and I’m a better version of myself because of it.
I had commented to Emma Harrington, our mutual friend, and season one podcast guest, about my disdain for all the crying going on at work, and my thoughts on its place in a professional environment. Typical military response. I wasn’t prepared for the conversation that followed.
Having had no prior knowledge of Michaela’s life outside of our work confines, I made a comment about the situation. Emma, being our friend, took the time to explain why Michaela was having such a difficult time. She told me some of her story, and I received a valuable lesson on empathy that day.
They say you can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. That day Michaela taught me that you can learn a lot about someone by sitting down and taking the time to listen to some of their story.
𝙀𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙞𝙙𝙚!
