Service With a Smile

Remember when service was an integral part of the shopping experience? Say you went to get gas in your car. Young men would literally run out to fill your tank, wash your windows, put air in your tires, and smile happily because you were gracing their place of business. If you went to a restaurant, someone greeted you, led you to a clean table, brought you water without being asked, and smiled warmly at you because you were gracing their place of business. Clothes or shoes shopping - someone rushed over to see if they could help you in any way at all, sat you down to put the contemplated shoe on your foot, Cinderella-style, or came to the dressing room door to see if they could fetch another size or color for you - yep, all with a smile.

Well, that's the way fond nostalgia remembers it anyway, especially in comparison with the recent past, when surly clerks glared at you for taking up space in their department, if they glanced your way at all. They shrugged their shoulders at your difficulties, ran from your approach, didn't know where anything was and didn't care to look or inquire of their clueless co-workers, and certainly did not smile at you for choosing their store to shop in. The attitude often seemed to be, Of all the stores in all the shopping centers in all the towns in our State, why'd ya have to come bother me!

But now times are tough. There are so many shops, so few shoppers! Gone are the days when the stores needed the employees badly enough to overlook certain deficiences, like promptness, courtesy, attention to customers. I have been becoming more and more aware that clerks all over town are - yes - SMILING at me! Asking me if they can help me, and then actually doing so! Rushing over to help me without even being asked! Giving unsolicited assistance with knowledge and courtesy! I actually enjoy shopping again. The whole atmosphere has changed, and I don't know whether the formerly surly ones are beginning to truly appreciate their jobs, or whether they have been let go and the hard-working, knowledgeable, friendly clerks that were always there somewhere are being given a chance to shine. I just know I really appreciate the new attitude toward customers, and I, for one, want to give a very sincere "Thank You!" to all of you in the often thankless service industry.