R.I.P. customer service. You will be missed.

I've had many customer-oriented jobs in my life. I've been a hostess, a retail wench, a waitress...even what I'm doing now could technically be considered to be in the realm of customer service. While each one has been a unique, challenging and ultimately rewarding experience, they all have one thing in common: customer service. The very first thing I learned at my very first job was to treat each customer with respect. Even if said customer was a bitch or a whiny bastard, I was supposed to grit my teeth and serve them with a smile. And for the most part I did. Was it hard? Yes. Was it necessary? Very.

I don't know if it's the full moon or the demise of American society, but I've been noticing less and less of a customer-oriented attitude lately. The first clue I got that I may be alone in my customers-first was when I stepped into Walmart the other day. I took a shortcut past a couple of empty checklanes to get to my destination. I noticed a sign with big lettering near the cash register. It read:

Um. Wow. I should make a snarky comment about how this should be a given, but really the fact that a reminder needs to be placed in front of a worker's face for them to smile makes me sad.

And then today. Sigh. Today. Chrissy and I decided to embark on a wine-tasting adventure Sideways style. Except in, uh, Michigan. To begin the shenanigans we stopped at McDonalds--because a stomach shouldn't be empty when imbibing on half a dozen different wines. I ordered my food and the guy groaned at me. "We, like, don't have, like, any pop, like, right now. Like, this is all we, like, have." He showed me a list of beverages and demanded I pick one. When I asked why the pop machine wasn't working he smirked. "Like, I don't know. Something about, like, needing to bleed the lines, dude." He then preceeded to throw my burger on my tray and shove my purchases at me.

"What did you do to make him so hostile, Krissy?" Chrissy was amazed at his attitude, too. I just rolled my eyes and we continued onto the Cider Mill/vineyard.

The wine tasting was exquisite. The bartender was helpful and funny and full of information. She was customer-oriented. I liked her. However, the girl that I rushed up to to purchase wine rolled her eyes at my excitement about my new-found love of apple wine. And then the girl who I purchased caramel apples from seemed less than enthused when I wished her a happy day.

I realize that it isn't always a bed of roses serving people. Yes, it sucks to ring up purchase after purchase for hours on end. Yes, there will be cranky customers to deal with. However. If I have done nothing to warrant a snide look or violence in the form of throwing my food at me, then you better grit your teeth and wish me a good day. We've all been in your shoes, so we understand. All we all really want though is a little respect, even if you are just serving us a burger to go.

Ciao, dahling!

~*Krissy*~

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