Saturday, November 24, 2007

Spreading a little cheer

Having absolutely no concept of the Thanksgiving stress that women are under, Mowgli was telling us horror stories about how badly behaved some women are at the grocery store where he works. (Just a friendly reminder: you think you're being righteously indignant when the store is out of your brand of fake turkey gravy. The teenaged boy who is helping you thinks you're ridiculously hilarious and will describe your theatrics to his family later that night. Just thought you should know.)

Anyway, I told him about how a teenaged clerk was very helpful to me yesterday when I was trying to find a certain kind of mashed potatoes (they were out) and Mowgli said, "You should have gotten his name and told the manager." I told him I'd never done that but that I had emailed kudos to a store or restaurant when an employee has been very helpful. I said that I never really knew if it was helpful. Mowgli assured me that it was, saying that he had gotten bonuses based on customer comments.

So, this year, as we're doing our uber-stressful holiday shopping, let's be sure to thank the people who help us out and even go the extra mile and brag on them to their bosses. According to Mowgli, it really does make a difference.

1 comment:

Electric Monk said...

This is good to hear. I've tried to make a habit of finding a manager and complimenting a particularly good waitperson or salesperson. But I never know whether it makes a difference or not.

Another fun part of this: wait till after the meal, go towards the kitchen and ask anyone you can find to see the manager. Then, when they come over, you can always see that hint of dread in their eyes, as if wondering what horrible and stupid complaint this guy with two little kids in tow is bringing up today. Then, when you actually say something NICE, the look of confusion on their face is priceless...