Monday, April 5, 2021
Recipient:
Hans, owner of Deiter's Chocolates, University
I'd actually stopped by here one time before, during my chasing-the-awardee phase.
Alas, in the time it took me to revisit the cheating/not cheating debate and decide it was OK because (1) I'd been wanting to visit the place since we moved to this neighborhood and (2) I could walk out the door with a truffle and without giving any awards if things didn't progress in that direction, they had closed for the evening.
This time would be different. I made sure to arrive way before closing time. I ran up to the storefront and pulled on the door...which was locked. I looked at the hours painted on the window; yes, they should still be open. I was grappling with the cognitive dissonance of the situation when a man came to the door. Bad news. They closed early that day in order to recover from the Easter rush.
My attempt to not look as crestfallen as I felt must have been unsuccessful because as I turned to go, the man asked me a series of questions:
Had I ever been there before? No.
Was I a milk or dark chocolate person? Dark.
Carmel? Nuts? Yes, yes.
Truffle or turtle? Turtle.
Pecans, walnuts, or almonds? Pecans!
He stepped away for a moment and returned with a gorgeous dark chocolate turtle which he gave to me free of charge.
This, my friends, is real customer service.
I asked him his name and told him I needed to give him something. Spent an awkward few moments juggling the new and improved bit of cardstock, two metallic gel pens, and the turtle (which was eventually chucked into my bag to free up a hand). Hans declined to have his picture taken, though he was happy for me to snap a few quick pics of the store. We said our goodbyes with promises of future visits.
In a last act of kindness, he reminded me to rescue the unwrapped candy from the interior of my purse.
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