I picked up a Subway at Papatoetoe by the Caltex the other day.  I joked to what I now know is the franchise owner, that I could repeat the whole conversation almost word for word:  What meat Sir? Extra Cheese? Any extra bacon or avocado? This time I did get extra cheese and he challenged me that it might sound repetitive but, he’ll get more business that way. Well he did! Good on him. As I was getting into my car, he came running out with a voucher for another customer who had won a free cookie. “That’s what you call service, I remarked”.  “He shouldn’t have forgotten it in the first place” said she. Right.

There’s a pretty interesting idea promoted by the new Auckland Council for an underground train link through central Auckland. My son Tim finished school yesterday for good. That’s 16 years of schooling with both Tim and Tom now finished and off to tertiary study. Tim has low vision and although he’ll be having surgery again soon which is very promising, he’s someone who is dependent (as many are) on a good public transport system. Leadership is not just about getting things done, but having the vision that will get others going.

I notice that slowly, but surely, the new Auckland Council is stamping its name and branding across the city – from roadwork upgrade signs, to rubbish trucks and the public library in Parnell. It’s Auckland Council. Someone has that detail worked out.

Like the guy in the Subway at Papatoetoe – he knows the details that will make the business grow and goes the extra mile for even the most ungrateful customer.  I reckon he probably has a vision that his Subway will be a big success in this part of the world. He deserves it.

And I hope that a vision for a big subway up the road will come to make life for my boys and their families a better one in the years to come. A vision for a subway. Yes, I like it.

Stephen