Last week, Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Senator John Edwards, appeared on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric in its FreeSpeech segment, which allows notable personalities to say what's on their mind.
She talked about common courtesy and how much it seems to be lacking these days. But it wasn't the familiar gripe about how people don't give good service. It was the opposite: she placed the responsibility on the customers to take a moment to get to know the person who's serving you, to read their nametag and be courteous to them.
I have no problem with that. I don't even have a problem being the first one to speak, although I think if I'm the one who's paying, I should be spoken to first. Still, it's fine with me to be courteous. I'm happy to treat servers with the level of respect I expect from them.
Then again, courtesy is a two-way street. All too often, I'm Mr. Nice Guy -- I'm not always as much of a curmudgeon as this blog might make you think I am, you know! -- and I'm met with people who really don't give a damn whether I get service or not. They don't care to know my name, they haven't the time to smile at me, or give me their undivided attention for the two minutes it takes to ring up my purchase. They're often too busy ignoring me in favor of their co-worker with whom they can commiserate about having to work an extra hour.
Some people might think I'm heartless because I expect so much from "minimum wage employees." Trouble is, I was a minimum wage employee once. I stood out because I didn't treat customers the way I'm so often treated by today's minimum wage workers. Customers complemented my service to managers, and I got promoted. And I knew that I didn't want to work in retail for the rest of my life, yet still managed not to treat customers as if I resented them. So I know it's possible.
Obviously, Mrs. Edwards doesn't shop in the same stores I do. She waxes nostalgic about mom-and-pop style grocery stores, for example. I don't know of any around these parts. There are chain grocers here, as well as that Super Wal*Mart, everyone's favorite. The chains are popular because they sell things for less. People shouldn't have to pay more than they can afford just to shop in a smaller store; people shouldn't have to give up friendly service for a cheaper price, either.
Still, I'm willing to take her advice to heart. I'll be more than happy to make an extra effort to make sure that I'm chipper any time I'm in a checkout line, to speak to the cashier with a smile, to say "thank you" when they hand me my change. (I do all of this already.)
And while we're being fair, since spreading courtesy seems to have to fall on my shoulders, maybe I should make it a point to call store managers when employees don't do their part in this little exercise. After all, if we're all out to make the world such a friendlier place, it's the least we can do, right?
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