Not now! I'm Hi'ing

We all should take courtesy lessons from two years olds. I know people say 'The Terrible Two's' are the worst, and we're certainly getting our share, however, I've also noticed that two year olds have an innate desire to help and to please. With no real gain for themselves. It's just what they do. A few weeks ago, when Hayden was on our upstairs porch yelling at the top of his lungs, "HI! HI! HOW ARE YOU?! HI! HI!" to every passerby he could see, he was enjoying it. When his volume got so loud that I thought I should probably rescue the neighborhood from further greetings, I asked him to come inside. He promptly turned to me, pointed his index finger and said, "Not now Mama! I'm hi'ing!"

Well, okay then....

It was so cute I had to let him continue, I imagine much to the chagrin of the neighbors, but I'm pretty sure he sold a house to some of the folks at the open house across the street. Haven't seen the commission check yet though.

The older I get the more annoyed I get with bad customer service. Perhaps it comes from years of being a flight attendant and having to suck up the bad attitudes of ill-personalitied passengers for "the sake of front line marketing," or maybe I just feel that it's basic common courtesy to not be overtly rude to people but either way, I almost can't take it anymore.

I remember the airlines telling us in training, "You are the on the front lines as far as the marketing of this company is concerned. It doesn't matter if they've had a great experience with a ticket agent on the phone, if you as the flight attendant are rude or less than courteous to your passengers, then that will be their lasting impression of this company. They will tell someone and they will tell someone else." They were right. No matter how much I wanted to wollop the guy who called me "babe" or the one who tapped my rear end to get my attention. As my coworker once politely put it, "Excuse me sir, but that's not the seat that you paid for! Now, would you like Coke or Sprite?"

I find it a fun challenge, for the most part, to take someone who's in a bad mood and try to change their mood around. I've worked at amusement parks, state fairs, large conventions, music concerts, on enclosed capsules in the sky and more. Places where stress levels can run high and I've always tried to help people solve their momentary problems. I don't totally understand the attitude of "these people bother me so I'll bother them back." It is, afterall, your job ~ hulllloooo? ~ and you are getting paid to do what you do.

A few days ago, while walking through a Walmart, I was preparing to go stand in the "15 Items or Less" aisle with my cart of exactly 15 items. I actually counted. I had not even rolled my cart up to the line yet. As I approached, the sales clerk, some 50 miles and an ocean of people away at the counter, screeched back to me "ONLY 15 ITEMS ALLOWED HERE!" I couldn't figure out how in the world she knew I was approaching let alone how many items were in my cart. I was almost in Texas for pete's sake and she might as well have been in Rhode Island with the distance between us. I said to myself, "Surely, she isn't talking to me..." but when I noticed the line of curious shoppers all turning their heads to look straight at her victim, as if they were in a drugged induced coma, I realized I was the center of attention.

After removing myself from the situation, I spoke to a manager about it. It struck me, "Is it really worth losing a customer over one more item in the 15 item lane?" Perhaps if folks that deal with the public took the attitude of saying "not now" to their bad mood and looked straight at their customer, understanding that they are their lifeblood and say, "I'm hi'ing to you today! How can I make your day better?" then this world would be a better place. Or maybe better yet....let's put two year olds in charge of the register. I bet everybody'd be alot happier...

I now step down from my soapbox.....