If you have read some of my other blogs, in a few minutes you may feel that I spend half my life at the DFW car rental building, which is about three zip codes away from DFW airport. And lately, I feel the same way. Maybe I should just move there. But hey - I love it here in beautiful Maryland, and besides, I am convinced that Dallas has finally eclipsed L.A. as the plastic surgery capital of the world.

Anyway, I wanted to relate a completely different experience that I had there recently - a much more positive one, that I think has implications in all of our lives.

It was a very rainy day in Dallas, and as usual, I was rushing to return my car, trying to make the plane in time, while juggling a million things. This time the car rental company was Dollar (it seems that most of us don't have much loyalty to car rental companies!) and as I pulled up to the return line, water was pouring out of the sky in buckets. In the passenger seat was a stack of papers, messages, etc., and I wanted to figure out what to keep and what to throw out before returning the car. (Actually, with rental cars you don't have to throw anything away - it just magically disappears if you leave it in the car.)

So I was sitting in the car for about five minutes messing around with this stuff when I finally decided to look up - seeing a very water-logged little man patiently waiting for me to get out of the car. I felt like such a schmuck being wrapped up so much in my own business that I didn't even notice this guy. Immediately apologizing, he just gave me a huge smile and said,

"Did you have a nice trip to Dallas, Richard?"

Honestly, this guy was so happy that I think either he just got laid in the back seat of a returned Ford Taurus or was about to leave for a three week vacation. I couldn't resist asking him what he was so darn happy about.

"Oh Richard, I just love my job!"

Okay - here he was checking in rental cars in the soaking rain for a living, dealing with frustrated travelers who were trying to catch their plane on time despite the sixty mile ride back to the airport, and probably due to the nature of the business receiving many more complaints than compliments. Of course, I once again couldn't resist the question - "Why do you love your job so much?"

"Well," he said, "everyone that I work with treats me nicely. I show up on time and work hard, and my boss really appreciates that. But best of all, when someone returns their car after a trip, if I just give them a big smile and say hello and greet them by their name, they are always so nice to me. So even though I don't make a lot of money, I really enjoy making people happy."

Now who ever could have guessed that someone checking in rental cars, a job loaded with drudgery if there ever was one, could love his work so much? It really was about two things - being appreciated by the people he worked with, and most of all, doing a few little things that genuinely made his customers happy.

His name turned out to be Yusuf, and he was pretty obviously Middle Eastern. Let's face it - it's not the easiest time in this country to be from that part of the world. But here was Yusuf, doing a pretty menial job, yet making everyone around him happy and readily admitting that he loves his job!

Do you love your job? Chances are you are doing something a bit more challenging and exciting than checking in rental cars. But do you love your job as much as Yusuf? Maybe we can all learn a lesson from the smiling man at the DFW Dollar Car Rental Return Center. And next time you feel like being grouchy to someone - just remember what to do!