The power of being nice.

The other day I was in a store getting a Christmas gift for someone special in my life and I had the opportunity to witness some really piss poor customer service.  There seemed to be only two working in the store and one of them proceeded to step in front of me without so much of an "excuse me," and then proceeded to vent to her colleague about whatever the insurmountable stress she was undergoing at that particular point.

After her vent, which I'm sure was heard by many in the store, she proceeded into the back of the store (like the back, where they store everything they need to stock; you retail people would understand that better than I can explain it).  Then the line grew.  The one woman who was particularly apologetic to those of us in line, and in the meantime she made an attempt to get the other wo
man (girl) to come out and help.  Fortunately, there were a few of us who in line with a very small amount of items.  In any case, this girl didn't know how much she showed her ass.

I bring up this story because I had witnessed some piss-poor customer service and some good customer-service.  The girl who essentially abandoned her colleague during a time when her support was vitally needed.  The woman who was helping the customers was extremely apologetic and making a wholehearted attempt to satisfy the needs of the customers. 

This story serves to give you my perspective on how the customer service industry runs.  Working in the customer service industry, this is something that we have to do all of the time.  A good rule of thumb is that we don't air our dirty laundry in the middle of the workplace.  Yes, we all have our bad times, but to allow for those whom we need to interact with for our livelihood is definitely unprofessional.

Being nice isn't all that hard.  As much as I tend to come across as an asshole (initially), I believe that I'm genuinely nice (most of the time).  I believe in going out of my way to make the members and clientele feel welcome and genuinely cared for.  Niceness can go a long way in changing a person's life. 

Even if you're having a bad day, fake it until you make it.  At some point you'll be from having a bad day to a good one, once nice thing at a time.