As of August 3rd, I will be a month into my summer baking at the theme park adventure. So far the adventure has tested me in a myriad of ways, and I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying myself.
That said, there are a couple of insights that I've gleaned that I believe are blog-worthy.
Even though I don't deal directly with the public, I still had to go through some of the training classes designed around such interactions. Most of these classes I found to be amusing, mainly because I was in them with so many youngins.
There were a few older adults too, and we usually congregated together, well, us and the homeschool kids, they usually chose to sit with us medium and senior aged people.
Anyway, one of the classes that I attended was about providing an exemplary experience to the guests of the park. Apparently in the post-Covid era, there seems to be a decline in fantastic customer service. During Covid I was still providing plenty of customer service at the library, so many of the scenarios that were covered were things that I have experience both as an experience service provider and as a guest-customer.
That said, during the training, which I have to admit was beyond fun because instead of sitting around we got to act out solutions to bad situations together as small groups, one of the older adults piped up with one of my most hated sayings in the realm of retail ever,
NO, THEY MOST CERTAINLY ARE NOT!!!
Yes, I yelled, because that above sentence has caused no small amount of chaos nation wide. The customer always being assumed right may have actually worked when we had a culture that valued politeness and mutually beneficial interactions, but these days I have found all it does is embolden entitled, selfish behavior.
My personal motto in regards to providing a positive experience is to Do right by the customer.
Years ago we had a training at the library that revolved around Getting to yes. Instead of always trotting out the No we were instructed to try to get to yes. And that's what I love to do. I adore helping people, I love seeing the joy on their faces when you go just a bit beyond even being helpful. Today, I was able to make a little kid's day at the park even a bit better because I heard his mother sadly say, "Oh no, they're out of M&M cookies."
Well, I had a double batch freshly baked and cooling on the racks in the back, I just hadn't had a chance to bag them and take them out to the front yet. I grabbed a bag and plopped a still warm dinner plate sized M&M cookie into it and sped out to the coffee counter to a very surprised mom and son. It made my day.
A lot of people who work in retail or other customer service jobs love to help people, and we get it, sometimes you are having a bad day, but that is no excuse to treat the person who is trying to help you like less than a human.
Because that's when the customer is a hundred percent wrong, when they treat the person who is there to serve them in a dehumanizing manner. I'm a pretty easy going person, but I have made it my mission to speak up against bullying in all it's forms, especially in the public arena.
The kids and adults who work in the park deal with thousands of guests every day, and they work pretty dang hard. Sure there are employees that don't, but my observations have been that those employees are the exception not the rule, and if people continue to be abusive in their interactions, soon there will be even worse lines and service because no one will want to deal with their nonsense.
I should know, after twenty years of dealing with the public I had to take a break. They're exhausting.
And you can bet your last almond croissant that I will strive to not ever evolve into one of those demanding, entitled, rude heathens who seem to exist in every public space these days. That type of behavior lacks in every possible virtue and getting your way is far inferior to making someone's day through kind and thoughtful conduct.
I once came across a t-shirt with this on it: Whoever said "the customer is always right" never worked in tech support.
Also, post-Covid? Kat, what paradise planet do you live on? I've been calling this series of disasters "the year with no end" for the past 37 months.
That t-shirt is gold lol!
Here in Idaho after the initial six weeks it was kinda like the big C didn’t exist, aside from the massive invasion of refugees that is. “2 weeks to flatten the curve” sure has dragged on though, huh 😉
You’ll have to pardon me Kaja, I spend as much time as I can on the farm and in the wilderness, it makes me disconnected from the reality of things…
!PIZZA
Beautiful lake!
Yep. Having dealt with the public for decades, I have to say I have seen abuse occur on both sides of the counter. People nowadays seem to default to being rude...however, far less so here in Virginia than in Michigan! 😃
Oh yes, people can be beyond horrid no matter what role they are in for sure, it just makes me kind of sad that it’s considered common behavior now.
And I’m so glad to hear folks in Virginia are so pleasant! My cuz lives in Roanoke and she loves it😊
Hope you have a splendid weekend OGP!
!PIZZA
Oh cool! I am neighbors with your kin! I am just 20 minutes south of Roanoke in a town called Rocky Mount 😁 Small world!
It totally is lol! That's awesome!
$PIZZA slices delivered:
(2/15)
generikat tipped steampunkkaja @generikat tipped @old-guy-photos
I'm not fond of that saying,either. Because the customer is sometimes just a pain in the patoot! I remember my days in retail at Silverwood, many years ago. I loved being able to solve problems for people: call around to find what they wanted in another store, dig in the back room for a coveted item (it was a very tiny back room, by the way), answer questions, etc. But there was that occasional person who I wished would have chosen some other vacation destination.
Most of my co-workers were teens, so I felt like my 50 years of life experience were highly valuable in certain situations. Like when a mother asked me about height restrictions on an attraction, and she was holding a crying baby, and a whining toddler was milling around her knees, and a school-age child was shifting impatiently from one foot to the other, and by the expression on her face I could tell she wished she was at home taking a nap. I had sense enough to give her a clear, slow answer, and not brush her off with a canned response like my younger co-workers might have done.
I am sure the bakery people appreciate your baking experience as well as your life experience!