Editorial: Going with your instinct can lead to additional benefits

Sometimes natural instincts can lead to a person changing his or her mind and making a decision that benefits them in the long run. Such an experience took place last week for me.

After a wonderful day with my sister and nephew, we elected to go get some ice cream. However, instead of going to a franchise company we elected to go to a local
New Kent business to give back to the community (and the fact my nephew wanted blue ice cream).

Upon approaching the facility, we were greeted with a happy smile of the owner working the window. You can tell that her enthusiasm for the business and her passion was something that already made my decision to have a brighter day. When conversing with her about her product, she answered questions and provided some very delicious desserts. With so many choices, there was only one that fit my fancy; a chocolate brownie sundae.

As I received it, she asked if I wanted a lid and I said I did (due to my sloppy nature). She carefully placed on the lid. I asked if they also had hot dogs ready but she indicated that it would take her 15 minutes to make them. I declined respectfully and admired her kindness and consideration.

The point of this editorial is that sometimes your instinct guides you into a different director for certain reasons. There is a difference between following your instinct and second-guessing. But being in small business, I understand how a company has to compete with larger corporations for business. I have firmly believed in giving back to small businesses and wanted to show my appreciation for someone who appreciated the newspaper as well.

I chose subliminally not to tell the owner who I was or how I heard about the location. It makes a difference seeing the appreciation they have for every customer, even someone who knew about the business beforehand and chose to go there after having an instinct.

The moral of this editorial is sometimes you are pulled by natural causes to go somewhere else instead of where you intentionally planned to travel. There are a lot of reasons that outweigh financial value and seeing the way I was treated, greeted, and served by this small business owner showed me that the community still has good people and offer just as many quality services as larger organizations.

So thank you to Sno Shack for the wonderful ice cream and desserts. I look forward to returning there in the future and utilizing other services and businesses that support the Chronicle. I urge all our readers and residents to do so because that is what keeps our community stronger.