Chico Chico Chico
My wife Grace and I are blessed to have 3 friends, who have been able to go on two trips to Europe together. One of the cities we visited was Rome. After a long day of walking tours and sightseeing, we headed to dinner. We decided on two rules: eating outside and having pasta. We headed down a narrow alleyway lined with Italian restaurants. The greeters were incredibly aggressive, trying to get us through their doors. It was like a car dealership if the salesmen of the different lots were only 2 feet apart. After a few walk-throughs, we finally picked a spot. We negotiated a free drink and a table outside. Then we sat down and met our waiter, Chico.
Chico could barely speak English, but trust me, that didn’t hinder the experience one bit. He had a zeal, was engaging, and contagious joy. He walked with a skip in his step everywhere. If you watched him from a distance, you could see each table light up when he came over. Whenever he started walking toward our table, we would chant “Chico Chico Chico,” and he would too, with a smile and his hands in the air (see image below). I mentioned him to another restaurant worker, who said, “Chico is the best. Everyone loves him. I don’t know how long he’s been working here, but he’s like this every day.”
Key Principles from Chico’s Actions:
- Joy spreads like wildfire
- Showing up
- Doing your role to the best of your abilities
Joy Spreads Like Wildfire
Joy is infectious, especially when someone exuding it is serving. Happiness is typically fleeting, whereas joy is characterized by contentment and overall life satisfaction. There’s a reason joy is a fruit of the spirit. Joy makes people question how they are living. Joy comes from your heart and is expressed through your actions. That’s why joy is so contagious.
I saw this truth unfold in our Roman restaurant that evening. As Chico bounced between tables, his joy touched everyone around him. At first, it was just our table chanting his name, but soon the entire alley was filled with a smile.
When someone sees a sick person at the hospital being joyful, they think, ‘What’s going on in my life that I can’t be joyful in my circumstances?’ Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians, ‘Be joyful always’. True joy is a gift from God. That is how we can show joy even in tough times.
Showing Up
Who in your life has had the biggest impact? Were they inconsistent, flaking out on plans, missing small events and even large ones? Of course not! This is one of my favorite principles because it takes no skill, just your willingness. What in your life do you want to pre-decide, “I am going to show up for this event or person”? The power of pre-deciding makes decisions much easier upfront. It’s deciding who or what is most important to your life and then making decisions around that. Then, just do it!
Here are some examples:
- Take Chico, our waiter in Rome. Every single day, he shows up with the same infectious energy and dedication to serving others. His colleague mentioned that he’s “like this every day” – that’s the power of showing up consistently. In a tourist-heavy city where it would be easy to treat each shift as just another day with just another group of tourists, Chico made the decision to bring his full self to work. He pre-decided that each table would get his best, whether they spoke his language or not.
- I pre-decided that I will serve as a small group leader. So, every Tuesday from 7-11 pm, I will be serving. “Josh, I got Sabres tickets on Tuesday, can you come?” “No, sorry I can’t”. Do I want to go? Yes, but I already decided that I want to serve. See, now all I have to do is show up.
- I pre-decided that on Monday mornings, I would go for a run to continue a healthy lifestyle. Now my only job is to put my shoes on and get out the door.
Jesus, in his famous Sermon on the Mount, said, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no”. Showing up is not about perfection; it’s about putting your best foot forward. James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits, writes about how to stick with good habits every day. He says, “Just don’t put up a zero,” and gives the example of a guy who first started building a habit of going to the gym. At first, this guy would put on his workout clothes and just go for 5 minutes. Although there were no results initially, as the habit of being the type of guy who shows up to the gym formed, it became easy to stay longer.
Doing Your Role to the Best of Your Abilities
This is at the heart of what a Street Sweeper is. It’s not about a 5’10" basketball player comparing his abilities with his 6’8" friend. It’s about him saying, “How can I compete to the best of my abilities with the cards I am dealt?” The same goes for the rest of us, whether you’re a mom, firefighter, nurse, or server like Chico. I don’t know anything about Chico’s past or what he deals with daily. What I do know is he does his job as a server to the very best of his abilities, and I’m grateful I got to experience that.
