The Art of Hootness

I want to tell you about a Waco shopkeeper that is an inspiration to me and should be to all shopkeepers everywhere. Her name is Karyn and she owns a remarkable cooking shop called the Gourmet Gallery.

Now, I'm only slightly acquainted with my friend's office manager, but she and her husband have just had their first child. I asked Karyn to make up a gift basket for her. "What do you want?" A very logical question, I'll admit, but one I was completely unequipped to answer. As I said, we were only slightly acquainted. "I'll work something up."

I traveled to Gourmet Gallery to pick up the basket and deliver it to Hewitt Chiropractic, the lair for Drs. Michael and David Moore, and Rene, their now-on-maternity-leave office manager.

To me, it was a nice basket.

"Rene's been in here before," Karyn said. "I think she'll really like this. I called her office and found she's a hot chocolate connoisseur. And, I know she likes nice things."

Is this obvious to you? This Waco shopkeeper gave enough of a hoot to call my recipient's office. I think that's laudable, but, let's face it--that kind of effort could be a written requirement in some This-Is-The-Way-We-Do-It-Here manual. But she *remembered* her coming in and *remembered* the kind of stuff she likes. That's not in any manual. That's hootness.

Hootness is rare, but it's not totally absent in this town. We want and hope Rainstat's customers see hootness in us, too.

Okay, I realize blogs are largely soliloquies but, if no one but me reads this, I want to encourage myself to start looking for hootness and shouting it from the mountain tops when I find it.

And, I'd bet that basket knocks her socks off. Thanks Karyn.

What a hoot!