Good News Lunch Club

I used to work in the computer department of a hospital in Seattle.  I was the first one hired in what would become a staff of 45.  There were a lot of changes going on in healthcare and tensions were high. Daily changes in technology were enough to push a sane person over the edge, so the combination felt deadly. 

Our department gathered daily in the cafeteria for lunch. It was supposed to be a break from work, but it turned out to be just a time where everyone unloaded and complained about all that was going on in the hospital. I however, wanted to talk about anything BUT work. It seemed no one else had a life; except for our recruiter, Nannette.  She was the bright spot in my day.  Even though she had her reasons to complain, she stayed positive, so we got to talking. 

One day, she agreed with me, that everyone else was just too depressing to be around, so we broke off from the group and sat at our own table.  We just talked about good things and what was going “right.”  After lunch we both felt so much better, we decided we should do that again. The idea emerged, as we walked back to our office, that we should have a “Good News Lunch Club,” and if anyone from the department wanted to sit at our table, we would insist they only talk about good news.  We decided Monday’s would be best, since everyone seemed depressed about returning to work after the weekend.

The following Monday we sat alone at a table. A few people stopped by to ask if they could sit with us, so we told them our rules.  One walked away and the other sat down.  I acted as moderator and got them to say only good things happening in their life.  Nannette and I also shared our good news and afterwards we all felt much better.  The next day more people joined us, but we didn’t say anything because it was Tuesday.  By the following Monday we had several people come to our table, but we laid down the law and told them about our special “Club.”  Most laughed and joined us anyway, but I enforced the rules and wouldn’t allow any negative conversations.  Each person was asked to report on their good news - some were silent, but most had something good to say.

Our table grew to be five or six tables all pushed together every Monday.  We ate silently as we listened to each person report their good news for the week.  We grew as a department and as a team and always left encouraged by the words from our “Monday Good News Lunch Club.” 

I can still hear the voice of one co-worker as she got up from the table on a Tuesday, after everyone was complaining about work,  “Boy, I wish this were Monday,” she said, “so I could hear some good news.”