MAY 11, 2026

A Nice Surprise

Hi there,

My grandfather sold vintage radio parts on eBay: vacuum tubes, transistors, dial faces. He was a "ham" radio operator who loved browsing local garage sales for parts other enthusiasts across the country would appreciate.

If a buyer paid eight bucks for shipping and it actually cost $5.43 at the post office, he'd tape the difference, cash and coins, inside the thank you note he mailed with the package. To him, that money wasn't his to keep.

I loved going to garage sales with him. Friday nights, he'd spread the local paper across the kitchen table and circle sales with a perfectly sharpened pencil from his shirt pocket, mapping the next morning's route. We'd leave at 6am, him and my two aunts and me, driving the country backroads of my hometown. He'd tell stories from his years as a mail carrier and share details about our family I'd never heard. Even in a town of a few thousand, I always learned something new about where I came from. Then, without fail, we'd stop for hotcakes before heading back to his house to sort through the morning's finds.

His eBay page was a wall of five-star reviews from people who shared his love of radio and seemed struck by the same small thing: He mailed back cash for the difference in shipping. Who does that?

He did. Every time.

So, what's the thing you do for the people you serve that's refreshingly unexpected? Give them a nice surprise.

Alright, thanks for being here y'all. Hope you have a great week.

Mallory

P.S. My grandfather also kept a logbook of every radio contact he ever made - names, locations, the weather where they were. He marveled that you could reach the whole world from your own home. I like to marvel in that too.