Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Hope for Society

Working in the customer-service industry, we are always met with that customer that ruins our day. You know the one. "I'm going to make a big deal because you made a mistake." I, myself, try hard NOT to be that person. People make mistakes, so I like to give my waitress/sales clerk/fitting room attendant the benefit of the doubt because chances are, they already feel bad enough.
So this girl brings nearly 20 things to the fitting room while I'm letting people in and out. You can only take in 10, so I let her know that she can take in ten, then switch out for the rest. This was our busiest time of the day and we had a line of people waiting to get in. She came out and gave me the stuff she had tried on (not specifying that she wanted to actually purchase the stuff) and got the rest of her clothes to try on. Since we were so busy, there was another girl with me helping to traffic the clothes coming back from customers. Since the customer didn't tell me she wanted to keep the stuff she handed back to me, it got lost in the shuffle and ended up back out on the racks. When the girl came out again and asked for her stuff I obviously had let it get put away. She was not happy and proceeded to ramble on in another language as I apologized. I eventually just had to move on and help the hoards of other customers, but thought "Oh great. There goes my day." Once something like that happens to me, my day is thrown, confidence shattered, and mood shot.
Then, a miracle happened. She came back! Mind you, she was only about 15-16, so this really threw me. She apologized for saying anything that had offended me. I proceeded to tell her that I would have been upset too and I again apologized for the mix-up. That really meant a lot to me. I don't know if her mom made her do it, but I like to think that she did it because she felt bad for being rude. If only everyone was like that, the world would be a nicer place. I mean, we all fly off the handle and say things we don't mean, but to have the guts to apologize and make things right says a lot about a person's character.
And the quote of the day comes from my manager Chris. We were sorting out some new bikinis somone had tried on and he didn't like the color of one (and you have to imagine a tall gay stylish black man with a "Puck-from-Glee" mowhawk from London saying this or it's not as funny) "I hate yellow, even on bananas." Made me LOL

1 comment:

Lisa said...

Oh there's always someone who wants to stir the pot for some reason. I'm sorry, but I'm glad she apologized. Try not to let those experiences ruin your day. I know how you feel though and it's easier said than done. It'll get easier with time, but it's also a personality trait you share with me. hehe