While I was in university I worked at Herbie's as a checkout girl. At the end of our shift when we were counting our tills, one of the girls would always complain about how she got all the rude customers every day. I was surprised, because my customers seemed fine. How did she get singled out? And then I watched her one day. She never looked at people, she never smiled. She seemed annoyed to have be at work. If she got a miserable customer she turned even more miserable. For myself, I always smiled at my customers, I made jokes with them and if one of them was rude I would sympathetically comment on how they must be having a hard day. Sometimes, I found those grumpy people would leave my till feeling better.
Now I'm not saying I'm perfect. Not by far! My greatest failing lies in not treating my loved ones very well when I'm grumpy. But I think you take my point. And in an effort to keep the good will flowing, I'd like to direct you to some recent examples of cheer:
- the Yarn Harlot is grateful for the small things in life
- Robyn is celebrating 6 years of Red Bird Knits
- Mia propagates a chain of positive thinking
- Mystical Creation Yarns has the stuff to soothe the soul of the savage beast
There now. Don't you feel better?
Thanks for the pick-me-up; power of positive thinking and all that...
ReplyDeleteThat yarn is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I like about you is your attitude. (Another is your sense of humor. Compassion is in there, too.)
I had a tough day yesterday and then I saw the Skater and he made me so happy that the yucky stuff was easier to face. He's an old guy (60's?) who roller dances along our road nearly every day, and his smile and joy are a true blessing. And boy can he dance! He skates Really Fast, moving like a teenager, doing these beautiful routines, smiling the whole time. What a gift!
I like being grumpy!! LOL. Lovely yarn. I found the same thing when I worked in retail. My cousin, who owns a Shell station tells her employees to remember that these people may be having the worst day of their lives, ie: their mother just died, they were just diagnosed with cancer, etc. and that their smile and graciousness may just be the thing they need. After she started telling them this, they had a customer come in and apologize for the grumpy manner he had had for the last few weeks. It turned out his child had just been diagnosed with leukemia and he didn't know how to deal with it, and that they were the only people who treated him kindly despite his gruff demeanor. I think a lot of us have forgotten small kindness and how important it really is. I found with co-workers later on that a grumpy exterior almost always hid a hurt interior. Blessings to you and everyone else. Thanks for the smile.:-)
ReplyDeleteThat picture alone puts me in a great mood! But I'm crazy like that anyway. Love your pep talk ... it's so true.
ReplyDeleteI think that if you run into a "grumpy" person, I find it helpful to snort at them ;) usually busts them up into fits of laughter AND you laugh too*grin*
ReplyDeleteThen, I go on a shopping spree of yarn heehee shhhh don't tell my husband though, he thinks it grows on the tree in our backyard!
When I run into a grumpy cashier, I usually tell the supervisor that she was so helpful and polite. I know they will pass the comment on to the cashier. I figure she has it worse then me, I get to go home and knit, and she is stuck working.
ReplyDeleteThe yarn is gorgeous. It glimmers like a sapphire
Ok, so I just bought that yarn. Its gorgeous. It would make a gorgeous peacock feathers shawl. Thanks for the good cheer.
ReplyDeleteomyhell, just kill me now - that laceweight is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI really agreed with what you said about the co-worker who got "handed" all the rude customers. In my customer service classes, I always mentioned that the way to get good service is to be a good customer -- and obviously it is true in the other direction as well!
ReplyDeleteNice socks!