Geez, would it kill ya to smile at the nice lady?

[JoitheArtist]

I stopped by Starbucks today, in search of a frosty treat (java chip frap) and noticed that the nice young barista making the orders seemed a bit flustered. The place was fairly busy, and in addition to making the orders, she was greeting every customer who walked in.


I don't think I saw a single person respond to her. She would also smile and wish each person a nice day when they picked up their drinks. Most people wouldn't even look her in the eye. She looked pretty frazzled, and frankly, I was impressed that she was even still trying.


Seriously, would it kill people to smile and acknowledge it when someone wishes you a nice day? Especially when it's someone who's doing a good job creating the product you purchased? Oh wait, she's in the service industry, she must be less than human.


When I grabbed my drink, I made sure to give her a big smile and wish her a great day in return--she perked up a lot after that.


What ever happened to common courtesy?

[AccountingDrone]

Seriously, would it kill people to smile and acknowledge it when someone wishes you a nice day? Especially when it's someone who's doing a good job creating the product you purchased? Oh wait, she's in the service industry, she must be less than human.


When I grabbed my drink, I made sure to give her a big smile and wish her a great day in return--she perked up a lot after that.


What ever happened to common courtesy?

I am another who tries to smile and be polite to service people ... it doesn't cost me any extra. i am even nice on the phone, I just fielded a call from my cable company trying to upsell me to adding the phone service, didn't cost me anything to be nice, tell the nice guy that we did not need to change our phone service and wish him a nice evening - I even let him do the closing with the 'in case you are interested you can always call 888 <whatever>' to keep his bosses happy =)

[Bandit]

What ever happened to common courtesy?

It has sadly joined Common Sense, the Loch Ness Monster, and Sasquatch in the "Rarely Seen" part of life.

When I go through a line, I always leave with a smile and a "You too!" when the person running the till says "Have a good day"

B

[JLG]

I notice this also when I am shopping in a store and being polite to my fellow shoppers. For example, when I am going to pass right in front of somebody that is looking at items on a shelf, I will say excuse me. Or when I turn into an aisle and cause a little traffic jam. I smile and say excuse me, sorry.
99% of the time people don't look up or even say a word.

[Darkforge]

I am another who tries to smile and be polite to service people ... it doesn't cost me any extra. i am even nice on the phone, I just fielded a call from my cable company trying to upsell me to adding the phone service, didn't cost me anything to be nice, tell the nice guy that we did not need to change our phone service and wish him a nice evening - I even let him do the closing with the 'in case you are interested you can always call 888 <whatever>' to keep his bosses happy =)

I do similar myself, not only have i worked in the food/drink service industry but also in the call centre world and so I always make a point of trying to be nice.

The worst is when I actually have a need to complain (such as my phone service, the installation of which was delayed by 21 days!!! - and i'd given them a months notice to set it up really bad service from them, but i don't have a choice of phone service here)

I'll start by asking how the person on the phone is, then explain calmly what the problem is, then say i know you aren't at fault personally bob, but someone in your company is not doing their job, can you get it fixed, or find someone who can fix it? If its obvious that jack and all hasn't been done since my last phone call. I'll ask if they can register a complaint for me.

but the thing is, its not the person taking the complaints fault, and there is nothing that I could achieve by ranting so even when its obvious i'm REALLY annoyed I try to restrain it as much as possible.

I just wish the peopel I deal with at work knew how it was to be on the recieving end

[iradney]

I wish people would understand that being nice costs you nothing. I've actually gotten some small discounts because I'm polite and understanding - I don't even want the discounts!

[Barracuda]

Sign of the culture and the times, I'm afraid. I heard on the radio last week that confirmed cases of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (yes, it's actually a psychological condition,) are up over 40% from a decade ago. SCism is a disease...and it's spreading. Now THAT is scary.

[mikoyan29]

I notice this also when I am shopping in a store and being polite to my fellow shoppers. For example, when I am going to pass right in front of somebody that is looking at items on a shelf, I will say excuse me. Or when I turn into an aisle and cause a little traffic jam. I smile and say excuse me, sorry.
99% of the time people don't look up or even say a word.

You are one of the few people that do that. Hell, my favorite is when people position themselves so that they are completely blocking the aisle. They will have their cart in one spot and they are to the side of the cart blocking the aisle. Usually it takes about 2 or 3 excuse mes to get them them to acknowledge me. And even then, they still stand there with a dumbfounded look on their face....

Sign of the culture and the times, I'm afraid. I heard on the radio last week that confirmed cases of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (yes, it's actually a psychological condition,) are up over 40% from a decade ago. SCism is a disease...and it's spreading. Now THAT is scary.

What's interesting is that we have more forms of coummunication now than ever - phone, e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging, chat rooms, forums like this, etc. Except most of these forms of communication remove the human contact part of communication out of the equation and make things even less personal. There is probably some part of our wiring that needs some form of contact. When we don't get that, we become even coarser.

[Pagan]

Usually it takes about 2 or 3 excuse mes to get them them to acknowledge me. And even then, they still stand there with a dumbfounded look on their face....

I usually get the cat-butt face. How dare I ask her (and it's always a her) to move....never mind the 3 people on the other side trying to get through, too.

[Mr Hero]

My problem with saying, "you too" is that I always use it incorrectly. If I'm at the theater buying snacks, they'd tell me to enjoy the show. Out of habit I'd say "you too."

Or when the waitress tells me to enjoy my meal.
"You too!"

[Hyndis]

I wish people would understand that being nice costs you nothing. I've actually gotten some small discounts because I'm polite and understanding - I don't even want the discounts!

I even got free tire repair because I was polite.

The car shop was backed up. The owner of the place was basically running it single handedly, and there was a massive crowd. Apparently almost every employee had called out or something. Massively understaffed and extremely busy.

I had driven over a rather nasty nail, got a huge puncture in the tire, though not not to need an entirely new tire.

The wait was over an hour. I was extremely patient, and the owner did apologize a few times for the wait.

When they finally were able to take a look at the tire patch it up, I asked him how much I owed him.

He said "nothing."

[Hobbs]

I am polite and courteous to most everyone, but I don't smile. In fact, you act super-bubbly to me and I get the 'Eastwood' Scowl. It's nothing against people, but I find people who do that to be dishonest.

[McGoddess09]

Sometimes I say have a great day before the service person says it.

I remember one time when I was about 12 years old, I was in the mall with my sister. She wanted a gumball, but I had no quarters, only dollar bills, so I headed to a store to see if I could switch out.

One of the workers had a bunch of quarters he wanted to get rid of, so we exchanged a bunch of dollar bills for quarters.

After our exchange, I looked him in the eye and said "Thank you very much,sir."

They were really impressed.