The Kindness of Strangers

I started a new part-time customer service job with an aviation company this week.  Among other things, my job is to meet and greet arriving/departing passengers.  I've only been there a few days and am still in training, but I am naive and/or hopeful enough to expect everything to go well.  Both my coworkers and all of the clients I've dealt with so far have been wonderful.  

While there are some things I do not miss about my pre-greeting-card customer service profession, like sitting in a cubicle, answering the same question 100 times a day, and trying to explain that I am not the person who controls the speed of the internet in Korea, I miss being professionally friendly.  One of my favorite things was turning a surly upset client into a friendly satisfied one.  There is great satisfaction in knowing that you have had a positive influence on someone's day.  

After my first full training session, I pondered my surprising joy at re-entering the customer service field while doing a little shopping at the outlet mall.  At one store, the man in front of me in line was purchasing a gift for his wife when the saleswoman told him that he was eligible to receive four miniature products from a selection of soaps, lotions, etc.  The poor man looked completely at a loss sorting through the pile of toiletries.  He quickly grabbed two bottles of lotion and two bottles of shower gel and handed one of each to the saleswoman to ring up.  He said, "These two are for my wife, and the other two are for this young lady," then handed the remaining bottles to me.  Though likely motivated at least in part by a desire to get out of the scented soap section as quickly as possible, I thought it was a very sweet gesture.  It was like someone was trying to remind me that you don't have to be a professional to brighten someone’s day.

Okay, so I'll try to be really nice outside of work, too.  I'm still happy to be professionally friendly again.  It pays a lot better regular friendliness.