Photo and Story By Joe Zlomek

On the way home this afternoon from a weekend-long meeting at the famous "Pyramids" office building in suburban Indianapolis IN, I stopped at the Subway restaurant in Terminal A of Indianapolis International Airport. I was tired and I was hungry. It seemed like a 6-inch sub would hit the spot.

A goose skims across a pond that helps frame the view of The Pyramids office buildings in College Park, outside Indianapolis IN. The Pyramids were built in the 1960s, when much of what is now suburban Indianapolis consisted of nothing but flat farmland and pastures. The unique, pyramid-shaped, glass-skinned structures can be seen for miles, and are among Indiana's most famous landmarks. Their interiors have recently been refurbished by new owners.

I placed my order: whole wheat bread, oil-and-vinegar dressing, veggies only. A woman working behind the counter -- a "sandwich artiste" in the advertising parlance of the franchise -- wore plastic gloves as she assembled sandwiches. Before starting mine she stopped, looked up, and asked me, "Would you like me to change my gloves?"

It caught me by surprise. Change your gloves? I stood staring at her for a moment, and it took a second moment to comprehend the importance of, and reasoning behind, her question.

Because I ordered a vegetables-only meal, I might have an aversion to meat. The gloves she was wearing had been used to handle meat. She was volunteering to change her gloves so that the meat would not taint my meal. I'm not a vegan by any means; I simply like Subway's veggie subs, and order them regularly. I would not have thought twice about the meats this woman had handled. I had never before been asked her question.

Which makes her so amazing: she asked the question. She respected me enough as a customer to anticipate a potential need or desire, and voiced her willingness to cater to that need or desire before I even considered requesting it. I thanked her. I tipped her. I took my sandwich down the terminal to my gate to eat it and contemplate.

We're in the real estate business, not the fast-food business. But the foundation of any business is service. The more service we give to clients, the happier they are. The more knowledge we share with clients, the smarter they are. The more money we help clients save, the richer they are. If we serve clients, share with clients, and save for clients, we keep those clients for life. They will return to us transaction after transaction because good service today is so hard to find.

I may never again visit this particular Subway, but I'm likely to forever think of "changing gloves" as a metaphor for above-and-beyond service.