Presentation matters
His death had been anguish for her, but having the ring returned to her was a moment of great anxiety. What would it be like, she said, to have the ring back -- handed to her by a stranger, as if it were just something and not the most precious thing that represented all her dead husband meant to her. She was excited and also apprehensive.
She need not have worried, for the man charged with returning the ring understood what was at stake and had prepared accordingly.
When he reached into his pocket to retrieve what would clearly be the ring, he pulled out not a ring, but a box. A little jeweller's box, in which nestled the wedding band on a bed of velvet.
The woman was so moved and so grateful, she said, for having the symbol of her love so thoughtfully returned to her.
The intensity of the story has stayed with me all these years, and I think of it often when presentation is lacking -- like when I bought a $600 suit that was just stuffed into a plastic bag and handed to me by the sales clerk. Six hundred dollars was a LOT of money to me and I was buying the suit for a significant job interview. To have it handed to me as if I had bought just a T-shirt was demoralizing and, I thought, rude.
And I think of the story, also, when presentation is superb -- like at my no-longer-extant favourite gardening shop that wrapped my purchase beautifully in garden-themed tissue paper and presented it to me in a paper carry-bag with handles. As if my $25 garden implement were of great value -- as if I, their customer, were of great value to them.
It matters not what is being presented. Presentation matters.
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A Post a Day in May No. 13 For the past two years, I have posted something to this blog every single day in May. This year, I hope to do it again.
It truly does! Thank you for the reminder!
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