You should try this sometime...

Tonight I didn't feel like cooking, I didn't want leftovers, and Wendy's just wasn't callin my name. Thanks to my big sis, we had a little leftover on a Macaroni Grill gift card she gave me for my birthday and that seemed to be just right.

So we get there and are promptly greeted by our friendly server. We took a ridiculously long time trying to figure out what the heck we should order and whatnot, but the server was prompt with our bread and water and not at all pushy or invasive about when/what we should order. The food came out quickly and the server was really nice the whole time. I must note that nothing was out of the ordinary, just plain old good service.

So here's the part you should all try. As we were leaving we stopped at the host stand and I asked to speak with a manager. She got that terrified look in her eyes and went to fetch him. He came out a minute later with that "I'm ready to put out the fire" look in his eyes and asked what he could do for us. I told him who our server was and that he had done an excellent job and that we were very pleased with our overall service tonight. He was grateful, relieved, and entirely thrown off. Let's face it, we live in a time when people are silent when things are fine and throw fits when anything is wrong. Having worked in restaurants, I know firsthand that it's a big deal when a customer talks to a manager about your service. When it's negative, you are in the dog house. When it's positive you are praised and rewarded. At one particular restaurant I worked in, the rewards were often more than just a "good job." They'd give prizes like gift cards!

Anyway, so the next time you go to a restaurant, take the time to tell the manager that your server did a good job. It will definitely make the server's day and it will be fun to see that terrified look in the face of the hostess because she assumes you will complain. And you'll feel good about yourself too. If the service is bad, let's just try to remember that those who work in customer service are people too. Regardless of whatever sleight you may have received, it's not the fault of the worker in the call center at your credit card company, the cashier at the store, or the deliverer of your plate. They are people too and we all have ropes that fray and sometimes we find ourselves at the end of. So let's do more to tighten one another's ropes instead of making them fray more, shall we?

There's my soapbox for the night. Maybe it was inspired by the lady who nearly drove my coworker to quit today and made another girl in a different office cry because she was so rude. She was furious because she had misunderstood directions that said: Send one copy of your portfolio to this office and another copy of your portfolio to that office. Because she had sent 2 copies to one office instead of one to both, it then became everyone else's fault that her life was now ruined and she'd never graduate. At that point name-calling and belittling ensued. Interesting. I find it interesting that when we make errors, we blame others instead of swallowing our pride, admitting our error and working out a new solution. I've definitely been guilty of this before, but the longer I work in customer service fields, the more aware I am of this occurance.

So let's be nice to each other and compliment strangers at any opportunity! Happy holidays and happy shopping. And best of luck all you customer servers out there!