Just recently I was staying at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. Lovely hotel, and the staff on the Executive floor always look after me.
On my first day there I noticed something on the dresser. I wasn't sure what it was a first, but as I picked it up, I realised it was a vase. A small vase that would take a few small flowers. Of course, there were no flowers in it, or I would have known what it was!
I figured that they had forgotten to put some flowers in it when they serviced the room, so expected they would do that the following day.
Well, you know what? That vase sat empty on the bathroom dresser the whole time I stayed there!
What's funny, though, is that I was disappointed every time I saw the empty vase! Not that it was a big deal, but simply that I expected flowers because the vase was there. It was an implicit promise.
In fact, had the vase not been there, I wouldn't have expected flowers at all and would not have been disappointed.
This is a simple example of how we make implicit promises and create expectations, only to disappoint others if they are not met.
Something to ponder.
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