One Stuffed Regret
Some kid leaves a stuffed animal in the lobby of our hotel. I think it’s a stuffed rabbit. Yeah, it’s a rabbit. We don’t think much about it, so we toss it in the lost and found with the stinky bathing suits.
A few days later, the mom called. I can hear the kid in the background screaming his lungs out. I’d muzzle the little brat, but that’s just me.
I put the call on hold, grabbed a coffee, and after a bit of searching, I found the f*** rabbit. “Yes, Mom, we’ll put it in the mail. No worries.” It took me a few days to find a large envelope. I shoved the rabbit in it. Problem solved.
No. The problem wasn’t solved. There’s more.
Mom calls again, claiming the rabbit arrived in a bad way, the envelope was torn, and it stinks of air freshener.
Now, I hear the kid crying in the background again, like it’s the end of the world or something.
Mr. Bunny and the three-day weekend
A guest left a little stuffed bunny in the lobby. We could have put it in the lost and found or tossed it in the trash.
Instead, we snapped photos of it living its best life—sunning by the pool, enjoying pancakes at breakfast, and even “helping” at the front desk. We printed them out, wrote a note from “Mr. Bunny” (because, of course, it has a name), and carefully put everything in a box lined with gold tissue paper.
The note says: “I had a great time at the hotel, but missed you so much. It’s good to be home.”
We overnighted the package and called Mom, just to make sure Mr. Bunny made it home.
The family? Blown away. The kid? He can’t keep that toy close enough.
We could just send the toy back, but where’s the magic in that?
Category: Case study, a particular real-life situation in which a product, service, or technology is applied to address a problem or accomplish an objective.
Word count: 357
Reading time: 2 minutes
Reading level: 5th grade.
Companion book: Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
SEO Score: 83/100