It doesn’t hurt to be nice…

... and it's even better when you can surprise someone with unexpected kindness. 
 

Yesterday, it was an over an hour and a half after we closed, I am desperate to go home, and I am stuck on hold while trying to submit a prescription to the pharmacy. 
 

The phone keeps ringing through and getting immediately put back on hold. Somebody finally answers, and it's the pharmacist. She asks if she can help me, and I blurt out, "Wow, you guys must be slammed!" 
 

We shared a conversation for a moment about how going to Pharmacy school never prepared her for a day spent vaccinating people, and how non stop it's been. I told her I understood what she was going through and thanked her for how hard she was working to make people safe.

She couldn't help how long I had waited, and we both got to feel a little better during our long days at work. 

I say "Thank you" to the drive through jockeys. It's rare that they hear it.

In reply to Appleseed :

Always.

Thank you- I'm trying real hard in these times to just be nicer. Not contribute to the noise.

In reply to Appleseed :

Same. It costs nothing to be nice.

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Well done!   In the words of my wife’s late great aunt, “ It doesn’t cost anything to be nice!”  Miss Fay had some gems to live by, that one was one of my favorites.  A smile, “please” and “thank you” to others is always the right choice. A little kindness, patience and humility can go a long way to making the world a better place. 

In reply to stanger_mussle :

Same here. 

It's actually sort of sad how people seem stunned to hear a Thank You

I really love this community. I check my other social media, then come back here for my "Good Night, Gracie" shot of sanity and politeness. No, not always, but enough that I feel like this is a collection of decent, earnest humans. Even the ones who don't vote like me or aren't used to talking to women. 
Sorry, you can return to your regularly scheduled rants please.

Margie

I work as a supervisor in a call center. A week or two ago, an 88 year old woman called one of my agents " a dumb vajajay". It blew my mind. 

I don't expect people to call us and tell us what a great job we're doing, but a dose of decency would be nice.

Every single person in this world needs to spend at least 5 years in a customer service job. Just so they can learn how to be a decent human being.

In reply to Marjorie Suddard :

We love you too. 

Not everyone, but that's family.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

... and it's even better when you can surprise someone with unexpected kindness. 

Speaking of which, are you still interested in those extra Ryobi batteries I have? They're just taking up space in my garage at this point. 

In reply to dyintorace :

Yes, I'd forgotten about those. I'll let you know the next time I'm registered for an event at the firm. I can come back though Gainesville. 

FedEx guy pulls in yesterday, and I watched him from the garage where I was working as he delicately made a 5 point turnaround, skillfully avoiding all my cars. He then came out, and I met him at the truck to collect the package; as he was leaving I wished him a happy Thanksgiving, and the look on his face was like I'd just told him what an awesome human being he was.  

Politeness lubricates the gears of society.

Have ranted before on this, but I've long noted that, say, people placing an order at Subway say "I need a (blahblahblah)".  Are you just making conversation or something?

I'd always ask politely "May I have a (blahblahblah)".  You know, treating people like people instead of bossing them around.

(and, you know, thank people for their effort when they're done, too.)

ShawnG said:

Every single person in this world needs to spend at least 5 years in a customer service job. Just so they can learn how to be a decent human being.

Just a 5 day stint for everyone would go a long way.

Apparently I am one of the few (if not only) teachers who regularly thank the custodians, maintenance personnel, educational assistants, and administrators for the hard work they do.

Make it a habit to compliment people for the crap they have to put up with in their job. It puts wind in their sails and helps them make it through another shift.

Pro tip- leftover Halloween candy? Put a bowl out with a sign encouraging package/mail delivery people to take some. Those guys have had a rough few years and its a nice touch for their busy holiday season.

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

Apparently I am one of the few (if not only) teachers who regularly thank the custodians, maintenance personnel, educational assistants, and administrators for the hard work they do.

My wife retired from teaching 11 years ago, but while she was working she talked about their custodian a great deal.  My wife still gets invited to an annual retirement party for teachers she worked with that are retiring.  This year they invited the custodian who just retired.  I don't think any other custodian has ever been more appreciated that she was.  

Apexcarver said:

Pro tip- leftover Halloween candy? Put a bowl out with a sign encouraging package/mail delivery people to take some. Those guys have had a rough few years and its a nice touch for their busy holiday season.

Good idea. 

Don't forget the trash and yard waste crews. It's tough working outside here in Florida.  I keep bottles of cold water in the refrigerator to hand out to them, as well as the county work crews, utility crews, the guys that pumped my septic tank last summer...

I always make it a point to make eye contact when I say thank you to anyone who's serving me. I also find myself tipping more, thankful that I'm able to go out for a meal because someone is working to make it possible.

Back in the late 90s (when flying wasn't quite the punishment that it is now), I was scheduled on a 0800 flight from PVD to CVG with a stop in LGA.  The PVD->LGA jump was a small plane, may have even been a turboprop at the time, and that equipment spent its day going back and forth between the two.  There was bad fog in New York which meant the LGA->PVD flight couldn't take off, ergo there was no actual plane to board for my PVD->LGA leg.  The gate agent announced that the flight was either delayed or maybe outright canceled and folks started coming to the desk to get re-booked.  The dude in front of me just went up one side and down the other on this poor lady.  He was also traveling to CVG and he started in on her about how important it was that he get to Cincinnati and all this jive.  She took her beating and told him that she was very sorry, but the best she could do was get him on a flight that left through ATL at about 1500.  He pissed and moaned and bitched and finally collected his things and left in a huff.

I was next at the counter so I ambled up, smiled, greeted her with a good-morning-sorry-it's-a-rough-one-for-you and just said "Hey, bummer about that flight, but whatever you can do to get me home is cool.  Worst case, I've got a new book and the bar will be open all day, so don't worry about it!  I assume since I'm also going to Cincinnati, I'll be on that same trip through Atlanta!".  She tapped away on her computer for a minute, smiled, and said "well, I can get you on the direct to Cincinnati that leaves at 10, but all I have available is First Class.  Do you mind if I bump you up to First?" 

I don't know how much of that was simply the fact that I was lucky enough to be behind Richard Cranium McGrouchypants III and it was her way of getting revenge and how much it was just treating her like a human being who shared my goal.  In the end, we both wanted the same thing: me out of her airport as quickly as possible.  That's what I think people have a hard time trying to grasp when they start butting heads with the customer service rep or the guy behind the counter or whatever:  You're usually two people that want to reach the same goal and you're going to get there a lot faster and with a lot less effort if you work together on it.  Granted, there are exceptions to that rule, but nine times out of ten that's where you're going to find yourself so, just playing the odds it makes sense to start the interaction as though you're on the same team and hold the adversarial crap in reserve just in case.

67LS1 said:

I always make it a point to make eye contact when I say thank you to anyone who's serving me. I also find myself tipping more, thankful that I'm able to go out for a meal because someone is working to make it possible.

Good point. I also try to tip with cash as often as possible.  The credit card company doesn't get a cut that way, and the recipient can decide for themselves whether to declare it as income. 

stanger_mussle said:

In reply to Appleseed :

Same. It costs nothing to be nice.

Not entirely true, but it is a minimal cost.