“What’s up with That?”
Written by rmulroney on January 6th, 2010“What’s up with That?”
Rick Mulroney/Westwind Digital
I am sure you have all noticed it. Every where you go there is some of it to be on display for all to see. Sure, during the holidays it can be expected to some degree but it’s been going on for a while. Rudeness! Now it seems every day tasks are being met with rude responses with everything from shopping to pumping gas. I began to notice this trend a while back while in line at a convenience store. The poor girl working the counter was merely the first person this aggravated customer would lash into over the gas pump she parked at being out of order. The counter attendant did everything she could to apologize, offer a solution and get a supervisor to help her none of which appeased the woman. I am not sure how the situation ended as I merely moved along on my own way but I thought about it a lot and made sure to inform my children of the incident and how that must of made that girl feel. This was not the last case where rudeness raised its ugly head and sure wouldn’t be the last time I would ask myself why people feel it is ok to be that way.
Here in Oklahoma we recently had what was called the “Blizzard of 09” by the local media. It came on Christmas Eve and all but shut down our beautiful city on what could arguably be the most important shopping day of the year for some of us procrastinators. As many people scurried around as quick as possible to get the supplies we would need for the next several days as warned by the weather man and brave souls out doing live remotes much like you would see for a hurricane more and more disrespect for each other was being unearthed. I witnessed two ladies almost come to blows over a shopping cart! Yes, a shopping cart, an empty shopping cart. It could be said that under those circumstances it is understandable but I don’t think that is the case at all. I feel like many are just waiting for the opportunity to be rude to someone for several of personal reasons. We see it in traffic all the time, some one accidentally pulls in front of someone else and the devil comes out cursing, throwing things and even in some cases bearing arms.
That leads me to the moral of the story for the dawn of 2010; being rude to people is just plain rude. None more important than in the service industry where even if you are perceived as being rude you are! What can we do to help keep our customer service skills upbeat, positive and effective? Lead by example as leaders is the first thing, show your sales associates, service technicians and office staff what proper service is and be sure to offer them a compliment whenever you can. Sometimes it can be quite the challenge when someone is being rude to you. You probably just want to let them have it but we all know that doesn’t accomplish much if anything at all. It is better to just smile and bear it knowing that you’re doing the right thing; you’ll feel better about yourself and maybe, just maybe, the person across the counter from will learn a lesson from you. As we move forward in this new decade let’s try to be good to each other 365 days at a time.