One afternoon on our recent trip to Kansas city the kids and I decided to check out an authentic Kansas City barbecue restaurant. I had heard of the fame of KC barbecue and wanted to check it out. We ended up at a place near downtown.
We walked in and you could smell the smells of barbecue cooking on a grill. One of the first sounds we heard as we walked in was a high shrill voice almost yelling "Hi may Heeeeelp U". Honestly it was a little freaky because this lady was yelling this statement over and over. My first thought was that this was a gimmick used by the restaurant so that people would remember it. I've been to places where the waitress poured your tea from a distance of three feet above your glass as a gimmick or another place where all the employees had to say "Welcome to Moe's" as soon as you walked in the door. So again, I'm thinking okay this is a ploy to advertise and it's kinda weird.
As we got to the counter I saw a little sign saying you got your meal free if someone didn't say to you "Hi May I help you". It dawned on me that this lady with the shrill yell had taken on a false religion. The store had a statement that was intended on politeness to their customers. They so believed in it that it was required for every customer. It was meant to be done with a heart to serve. This lady had taken that principle and decided to yell an abbreviated version of it so often that every customer would hear it. She didn't realize that the meaning and heart of the matter had totally been lost. Instead of leaving customers with a sense of being truly served, they were left with entertainment at the most and irritation on the other side.
This reminded me of the church today and where we get in trouble. The commandments of the Lord were given as a means for loving and serving God and one another, but at times we manipulate them to serve ourselves. This was a great example of true and false religion.
postnote: the barbecue was good, but didn't quite hit Texas standards.
4 comments:
Hi Berry,
Maybe word will get back to Gates and there will be some changes. Would you be willing to steer them to some good Texas barbeque places too? Maybe they could improve on thier recipes while they're at it.
Great article. Try finding good barbeque places in Kenya. Food is the thing I miss most from Texas.
Next time try Jack Stack, its outstanding!
I know there is an important lesson from this post for the church. I couldn't help but also feel tempted to go for a good western meal soon. Something that looks like the picture you've posted. :-) Feel honored for being on the blogroll.
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