The Customer Service Contrast- by Vanessa Phillips

I drag myself out of the car, fumble through my gym bag, get out my cell phone, pull up the gym app to check in, pull together that 5am smile and say GOOD MORNING! Only to be greeted with…NOTHING. No smile, no expression, no words, literally NOTHING. Should I check for a pulse? Is that a mannequin? Nope. I validate it’s a human female and go about my workout. 

Fast forward to the following morning, same dragging, same fumbling, same check in and same GOOD MORNING! I am greeted with a GOOD MORNING, ENJOY YOUR WORKOUT, Wow I love that shirt! Hmmm, who is this alien being? What is this? A recording? NO! It’s a young gentleman, with bright eyes and a big smile. Must be a random thing. 

The week flies by, Saturday afternoon at the ol’ PetSmart. Roll up to the line, where I find a young lady who starts scanning my items, doesn’t speak, throws my dog treats in a bag, literally and I say “hey I have the app for points.” She looks up in a reverse eye roll and says “you do that at the beginning of the transaction not the end.” Oh my, what a joy. I exit. 

Speed through all of my pet stuff and head back 3 Saturdays later. Dog treats, fish food, salt for the tank…a kind young man says “what are you feeding?” I reply “a puffer fish” “Oh wow cool saltwater tanks are so hard to maintain.” We chat for the entire transaction, he scans my points, takes off a couple dollars (YAY) and leave with a big smile! 

Women were once viewed as kind, nurturing calming beings. What happened? For some reason we have taught our girls that they have to “be tough” and “be strong.” Are these bad lessons? No. Are we teaching them the right way? No. Being tough, being strong and standing up for yourself, doesn’t equal being mean, negative and nasty to anyone that comes your way. A lot of t-shirt companies and coffee cup and wine glass printing is banking off of “I hate people” products. Who is buying them? Women, young ladies. Why do we hate people? Why can’t we say hello good morning how are you today have a great day!?! Even if that person doesn’t approach you nicely or doesn’t say it back, does that give us the right to be a BITCH? No! 

Why are our boys kinder than our girls? Why are we softening men and hardening women? 

I think we are seeing this across the board. Women being treated fairly has turned into women being given a different set of rules. A man cheats on his wife, he’s an asshole. A woman cheats on her husband, he probably deserved it the bastard!! That’s not treating women equally and fair. That’s making exceptions. So all of this leads me to think - are we teaching our girls to be entitled? To be an exception? I’m not thinking that’s the goal but here we are. 

Traditional gender roles are OK. Regardless of your gender, kindness to all is OK. Customer service if you are working in that industry, is IMPERATIVE!!