Recently we were asked during a faculty development exercise to think of the worst customer service we’ve ever received. I’m betting that this comes pretty easy for you. It’s not hard to think of the worst customer service…The guy who wipes his nose and then hands you your money, the customer service rep who is rude or smack their gum. Or the waitress who rolls her eyes when you ask for a refill on water and then never brings it.ever.
What about the best customer service? It usually takes a bit more time to come up with good customer service experiences. I can hear the crickets chirping in the background…
While we’re not all in the customer service business we all have the opportunity to serve others and either heap stress and hurt on someone or bless them with kind words and actions. Think about the last time that you were blessed by someone or hurt. I am going to devote my Thursday posts (at least for the time being) to Thoughtful Thursday. Highlighting how I’ve been blessed or have found ways I can bless others. This is not a “toot my own horn” kind of post, but a post to encourage you to look for ways you can bless others.
I am blessed every Thursday by my trash company. Yes it’s true. Every Thursday the guys for our local trash service bless me and I smile every time I think of them. I have called their office and made them Christmas cookies last year thanking them, but it doesn’t seem quite enough.
Now most people wouldn’t think that trash guys can be a blessing to anyone, but they are to our family. When they pick up our trash, they empty the dumpster like every other trash company. But when they’re done…they bring my dumpster back up to my house and put it next to my garage. Every week. And on those weeks when we’ve forgotten to put it out by the road, they stop, and run up to the house to pull the dumpster down to the road, empty it and return it back to the house.
Some would say they’re just doing their job, but it really is a blessing. Let me remind you that the wind blows all the time in Pueblo. I mean really. All.the.time. So if we have an empty dumpster sitting at the end of our drive in this wind, it takes no time for it to end up in our neighbor’s yard. I would have to walk over there humbly apologizing for my runaway trash can, probably with a baby on my hip and a toddler in tow. But I don’t. My trash guys bring my trash can safely up to my house where it is blocked from the horrible wind.
They keep me from having to run down the street chasing the trash truck like a mad woman trying to get them to come back because we forgot to put it by the road the night before. They come and check it. As a result I don’t have an overflowing can the next week because it didn’t get emptied.
The guy who work on the trash truck always take the time to wave at whichever little boy is standing at the window watching the “big truck” come by. You can’t miss the sound of the trash truck, it’s big, it’s loud and it has a really cool lifter thing on the back. Big loud trucks attract little boys. On Thursdays I have at least one little one who climbs up on the couch, looks out the window and waves at the trash truck. The trash guys always wave back. Always. Let me tell you that makes a kiddo’s day. And seeing a happy excited kid warms a mom’s heart.
So yes, every Thursday my trash guys are a blessing to me. It’s the little stuff that makes a big difference. And they pay attention to the little stuff.
So let me ask you…What about the last time that you were blessed by someone in your life? How can you bless others this week?