Over the past month, we have been posting stories and information about our employees. One of the memories that someone shared gave great insight into who we are as a company and I thought I would share it with all of you.
Dave (our owner) is a humble man of great character. If you ever meet him, you will notice that right away. He will never say that about himself, but our employees will say that about him. He expects greatness not just in quality of work, but in the way we treat our clients and others, and continually looks for ways to inspire his employees to do just that.
Many years ago, he used a story to show everyone part of the reason why it is so important to him.
Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area.
When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, ‘You’d better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.’ Then he thought, ‘Oh, forget it, it’s only a quarter.
Who would worry about this little amount?
Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a gift from God and keep quiet.’ When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, ‘Here, you gave me too much change.’
The driver, with a smile, replied, ‘Aren’ t you the new preacher in town? I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I’ll see you at church on Sunday.’
Dave believes in doing what’s right and caring about others first even in the little things.
So, a few weeks after he told this story, a box with a PlayStation was accidentally delivered to EZ Micro. Obviously, in a company filled with gamers everyone was excited. One of the employees enthusiastically said, “I wonder if Dave will let us keep it?”
And then he paused and said with a half-smile, “darn quarter!” The whole room busted out laughing as he walked off to wrap up the box to send it back.
That is who we are – fun, honest, caring, smart and… human.