Confidence

When you order a coffee, you have confidence that the barista is going to deliver what you are asking for. You pay for it before it’s made, trusting you will get your beverage as ordered. There’s a social contract you enter into. You trust the barista to deliver your request. They in turn deliver to you your coffee drink

It doesn’t always happen that simply. Coffee snobbery aside, we are after all human and aren’t always perfect. Mistakes happen. When it’s not just as you expected, you have the opportunity – the obligation – to follow through with a clause in the social contract that many forget.

You must point out the error and request resolution. During resolution, your role is to keep calm, respectful and empathetic. A good barista will fix your drink and ensure the overall experience is positive. Your final obligation in this transaction is to acknowledge the effort and thank them.

You see, obligating ourselves to do the right things demonstrates confidence in ourselves. If we have confidence in ourselves, others see that they too can have the same. After all, social contracts aren’t strictly about ourselves – they serve a much larger purpose to deliver positive affirmations and guidance to everyone.