As I was sitting in the drive-thru line at Starbucks this morning, I was thinking about something I once heard; America’s industry has become service oriented. That’s a little scary, in my mind, I thought, while willingly sitting in line for a $4.00 cup of coffee with half a cup of sugar in it.
I consider all the times I’ve shopped or eaten somewhere and gotten truly cool treatment or truly horrid service. Unfortunately, it seems the latter is the more frequent. Some companies still seem to ‘get’ that service with a smile goes a long way, while others don’t give a flyin’ flip about return customers (or know that they’re the only place in town for item X).
I have a rule of thumb about restaurants, and that is that they get three chances. I work hard for my paycheck, and spending it on lousy food and lousier service is offensive to me. I’ll chalk one bad experience up to an ‘off day’. Even the second. But if it happens a third time, I will not return. I’d be hard pressed to return to Chili’s at this point.
The credit union I use recently pulled the last stunt they’ll pull on me. Come Monday, my accounts there will be closed. The attitude I received was one of ‘tough cookies’, this latest incident. I don’t appreciate creative banking. I’m about to apply this methodology to stores and services of any variety, I think.
When we open an account somewhere, instead of a free gift or even a simple thank you, we get a fee imposed. The sad part is we’ve grown to expect this and tolerate it, all the while griping about it. I don’t know about you, but I find this offensive, and while I’m at it, and it’s brilliant marketing, I refuse to pay someone to wear advertisements for them.
Now, if all these cashiers, salespeople, wait staff, tellers, customer service agents, etc. are so unhappy in their jobs that a smile is too much work, why is that? They aren’t some foreign entity, they are US! They are our sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, best friends and parents. I’m of an age where I remember that most moms didn’t HAVE to work outside the home, although some did. Dad was the main breadwinner. There was usually one car in a driveway, and kids had bikes, baseballs, and Barbie dolls. We were never what I’d call “well off”, but we did get to take road trips now and then. We did okay.
Today, there’s no way in hell a person can support him/herself on 40 hours a week at minimum wage, much less a family, and many positions offer only that or a laughable quarter an hour more. Mom has had to go to work in most families now, even if there’s still only one car in the driveway and (in some cases) the kids don’t have video games, but bikes, baseballs, and Barbie dolls. My own children have never been on a road trip with me, because the means were not available. Now that the kids are grown, I don’t go alone. The means are not available. I have a good job, too. One that I enjoy going to every day (give or take one or two here and there). The truck in my driveway was paid for long ago. Its close to my own age, and replacing it is not an option at this time. I earn considerably more than minimum wage, too.
Am I griping about being “under the poverty line”? No, not really. I think happiness or lack thereof can be found at any income level. I just think it’s a lot more difficult when one is constantly worried about where groceries are going to come from- and thankfully, I’m not that poorly off, but have been.
I can see why it’s so hard for the cashiers, salespeople, wait staff, tellers, customer service agents, etc. to smile. Even their job security (ha) is at risk, with automated this and self-check that (which I abhor don’t use unless it’s truly unavoidable). I want a real live person- even a grumpy one- over a machine. How many of us even notice that they’re a real person, instead of a necessary inconvenience to deal with on our way to whatever it is we’re running towards?
We’re in major trouble if we’re that dependent on being a country of service oriented industry. I have noticed, however, that Starbucks employees seem to be a perky lot.
We’re paying dearly for all this convenience. Are we voluntarily turning ourselves into the numbers we claim we’re not? What are we running towards?
I consider all the times I’ve shopped or eaten somewhere and gotten truly cool treatment or truly horrid service. Unfortunately, it seems the latter is the more frequent. Some companies still seem to ‘get’ that service with a smile goes a long way, while others don’t give a flyin’ flip about return customers (or know that they’re the only place in town for item X).
I have a rule of thumb about restaurants, and that is that they get three chances. I work hard for my paycheck, and spending it on lousy food and lousier service is offensive to me. I’ll chalk one bad experience up to an ‘off day’. Even the second. But if it happens a third time, I will not return. I’d be hard pressed to return to Chili’s at this point.
The credit union I use recently pulled the last stunt they’ll pull on me. Come Monday, my accounts there will be closed. The attitude I received was one of ‘tough cookies’, this latest incident. I don’t appreciate creative banking. I’m about to apply this methodology to stores and services of any variety, I think.
When we open an account somewhere, instead of a free gift or even a simple thank you, we get a fee imposed. The sad part is we’ve grown to expect this and tolerate it, all the while griping about it. I don’t know about you, but I find this offensive, and while I’m at it, and it’s brilliant marketing, I refuse to pay someone to wear advertisements for them.
Now, if all these cashiers, salespeople, wait staff, tellers, customer service agents, etc. are so unhappy in their jobs that a smile is too much work, why is that? They aren’t some foreign entity, they are US! They are our sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, best friends and parents. I’m of an age where I remember that most moms didn’t HAVE to work outside the home, although some did. Dad was the main breadwinner. There was usually one car in a driveway, and kids had bikes, baseballs, and Barbie dolls. We were never what I’d call “well off”, but we did get to take road trips now and then. We did okay.
Today, there’s no way in hell a person can support him/herself on 40 hours a week at minimum wage, much less a family, and many positions offer only that or a laughable quarter an hour more. Mom has had to go to work in most families now, even if there’s still only one car in the driveway and (in some cases) the kids don’t have video games, but bikes, baseballs, and Barbie dolls. My own children have never been on a road trip with me, because the means were not available. Now that the kids are grown, I don’t go alone. The means are not available. I have a good job, too. One that I enjoy going to every day (give or take one or two here and there). The truck in my driveway was paid for long ago. Its close to my own age, and replacing it is not an option at this time. I earn considerably more than minimum wage, too.
Am I griping about being “under the poverty line”? No, not really. I think happiness or lack thereof can be found at any income level. I just think it’s a lot more difficult when one is constantly worried about where groceries are going to come from- and thankfully, I’m not that poorly off, but have been.
I can see why it’s so hard for the cashiers, salespeople, wait staff, tellers, customer service agents, etc. to smile. Even their job security (ha) is at risk, with automated this and self-check that (which I abhor don’t use unless it’s truly unavoidable). I want a real live person- even a grumpy one- over a machine. How many of us even notice that they’re a real person, instead of a necessary inconvenience to deal with on our way to whatever it is we’re running towards?
We’re in major trouble if we’re that dependent on being a country of service oriented industry. I have noticed, however, that Starbucks employees seem to be a perky lot.
We’re paying dearly for all this convenience. Are we voluntarily turning ourselves into the numbers we claim we’re not? What are we running towards?
Labels: Life Questions
posted by Anna at
2:54 PM
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