Monday, June 11, 2012
Fun Weekend Nails!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
I'd Like to Say Thank You For....
Have you ever felt like no one appreciates what you do? Like you are doing your damnedest to get your job done, and do it right, and you never get a word of thanks? Or when you ARE thanked, its a simple passing "Thanks" that we are trained from birth to render mindlessly when someone does something for you. You know what I mean - times like when the bank teller hands you your cash, or as the drive-thru attendant hands you your drinks through the window, or when your waitress fills your glass back up. We've all been there, doing the jobs that we're sure no one REALLY appreciates, just simply expects - the jobs that no one is really thankful are done, just angry when they aren't accomplished. Have you ever thought about ACTUALLY taking time to stop your waitress and say "Thank you, you're doing an awesome job and I really appreciate you being so attentive and on top of everything!"
It never really occured to me how thankless some jobs are until the last couple months.
I was out with an amazing friend of mine, Kristian. Kristian is this crazy big city girl trapped in a quiet small country town, and in a way, we are kinda kindered spirits (although I will admit, as she would too, that I am probably happier in our small town than she is, haha!) She is a talented, intelligent and vivacious woman, and even after years, literally, of not seeing each other and/or hardly speaking because of the busy lives we have led, we sat down for a late lunch one day and couldn't stop talking - about EVERYTHING. We talked and sipped wine in a fantastic little Italian Cafe close to home, when our waitress came over to check on our order and see if there was anything that she could do. At that point, Kristian struck up a conversation - which is not unusual for Kristian or I, because it's also true that we both love to talk to people, and we tend to feed off of eachothers energy. However, at some point in the afternoon, when our lovely waitress Patty came over to check on us once more, hours after we first arrived, Kristian did something that took me slightly aback. She straight up praised the waitress for her knowledge of the menu, for her professionalism, and her appropriate time spacing between asking how we were doing with our food.
I was honestly a little bit embarrassed at first and slightly confused, because I had never been around anyone that took it upon themselves to publically shower someone with praise. Along with that, I had never offered that much thanks to someone before, and I had no idea why I had never shown my appreciation before or what to say. It occurred to me that my lack of action obviously led me to be the one that was in the wrong, and I couldn't believe I had never said thank you in such a way before. However, being the social "cameleon" that I am (I have my dear friend Ethan to thank for that perfect explaination of my personality), I chimed right in, and said legitimately what was on my mind just as Kristian was - that Patty's recommendations were fantastic and that I appreciated the fact that she made sure we were taken care of, without hovering over our table. You see, Kristian is a very outspoken person, and I am too - when I'm among friends. But to shower that praise on a complete stranger put me in a bit of a social gridlock, and I wasn't sure how to react to it...
Until I saw the look on Patty's face.
The way she lit up when she heard how great of a job we thought she was doing was enough to make even me smile, and I wasn't the one that was receiving the thanks! Her facial expression made it quite obvious how much our praise meant to her, and all we were really doing was making sure that she knew how nice it was that she was good at her job and that we took notice of it. It made me think - how often do I go, daily, and not genuinely offer my gratitude for a job well done. How many people have affected my life, from a miniscule deed done well to a life altering event, that I have never stopped to thank? Or even the little things, like the drive thru attendant, the one that I just hand a card to, grab my food and toss a "thanks, you too" over my shoulder as I drive away. How many times have I done nothing but leave a tip on the table as an expression of a "good job", when I could have also picked up the pen and wrote on the back on my receipt "Your service was excellent - thanks for making my dinner worry-free & keep up the great work!"
And so - I have conducted a social experiment a couple times in the last few weeks - once with a drive thru attendant and once with my waiter at a restaurant. To the drive-thru attendant, I expressed my appreciation for her sunny disposition and how nice it was for her to simply ask "How are you today?" through the speaker of the drive-thru instead of "Would you like to try a Value Meal?!?" And to my waiter, who's name was Troy, at Hard Rock Destin, I left a note thanking him for his fantastic and humorous service and a guarantee that I would be back. The results? The drive-thru girl smiled at me, blushed a little and simply said that's what they were trained to say (which I know isn't true and I'm sure that was just her response b/c she didn't know what to say to a direct compliment. Ive worked drive-thru, and you're trained to sell the product). And Troy? Before he even saw what I had wrote, he had noticed the writing on the receipt stub and commented that he was going to keep that copy.
My point is, is that there are so many jobs that go without a proper thank you. I'm not sure why we don't hand them out more freely - maybe it's because we just assume people know we're thankful, or perhaps it's b/c we just think of it as "they're just doing their job". Let me tell you, I have heard the saying before, "You don't get rewarded for doing your job," and I say that's crap. It's called a paycheck, or a promotion. That is your bosses way of showing their gratitude for you doing your job and doing it right. But what about situations other than an "employer-employee" relationship? Does that mean a plain, scripted "thank you" is enough all the time? Have you ever been caused to stop and go "Wow, that person was so polite and friendly, it made my day!", and then just walked away? What about the people that made such a huge impact on your life that it has permanently changed you as a person? Have you told them what they mean to you, or do you just chose to assume that they already know? Have you ever wondered why some people just do the bare minimum at their job, and been curious if it was b/c they worked their @$$es off for years without even a small showing of graditude or validation for their work, so they just stopped caring about the quality of work they did? Sure, sometimes a simple "Thanks!" is enough, but sometimes it should be a stepping stone to another expression of graditude.
Lastly, I'll bring this full circle - and I'll ask you again - have YOU ever held a job where you felt that no one was grateful for the work you put in, the effort you made, or the time that you spent? Have you ever just wished for a little more than a cliche "thanks" in response to your dedication? And have YOU done anything to break that cycle? - to show someone that you have noticed their work, knowing that there have been times in your life when you wished someone would have noticed yours?
I would challenge everyone - like my friend Kristian unknowingly challenged me - to break the cycle and express your gratitude for a job well done. It doesn't cost you anything, and the happiness on someones face in reaction to you noticing their hard work is truly priceless.
It never really occured to me how thankless some jobs are until the last couple months.
I was out with an amazing friend of mine, Kristian. Kristian is this crazy big city girl trapped in a quiet small country town, and in a way, we are kinda kindered spirits (although I will admit, as she would too, that I am probably happier in our small town than she is, haha!) She is a talented, intelligent and vivacious woman, and even after years, literally, of not seeing each other and/or hardly speaking because of the busy lives we have led, we sat down for a late lunch one day and couldn't stop talking - about EVERYTHING. We talked and sipped wine in a fantastic little Italian Cafe close to home, when our waitress came over to check on our order and see if there was anything that she could do. At that point, Kristian struck up a conversation - which is not unusual for Kristian or I, because it's also true that we both love to talk to people, and we tend to feed off of eachothers energy. However, at some point in the afternoon, when our lovely waitress Patty came over to check on us once more, hours after we first arrived, Kristian did something that took me slightly aback. She straight up praised the waitress for her knowledge of the menu, for her professionalism, and her appropriate time spacing between asking how we were doing with our food.
I was honestly a little bit embarrassed at first and slightly confused, because I had never been around anyone that took it upon themselves to publically shower someone with praise. Along with that, I had never offered that much thanks to someone before, and I had no idea why I had never shown my appreciation before or what to say. It occurred to me that my lack of action obviously led me to be the one that was in the wrong, and I couldn't believe I had never said thank you in such a way before. However, being the social "cameleon" that I am (I have my dear friend Ethan to thank for that perfect explaination of my personality), I chimed right in, and said legitimately what was on my mind just as Kristian was - that Patty's recommendations were fantastic and that I appreciated the fact that she made sure we were taken care of, without hovering over our table. You see, Kristian is a very outspoken person, and I am too - when I'm among friends. But to shower that praise on a complete stranger put me in a bit of a social gridlock, and I wasn't sure how to react to it...
Until I saw the look on Patty's face.
The way she lit up when she heard how great of a job we thought she was doing was enough to make even me smile, and I wasn't the one that was receiving the thanks! Her facial expression made it quite obvious how much our praise meant to her, and all we were really doing was making sure that she knew how nice it was that she was good at her job and that we took notice of it. It made me think - how often do I go, daily, and not genuinely offer my gratitude for a job well done. How many people have affected my life, from a miniscule deed done well to a life altering event, that I have never stopped to thank? Or even the little things, like the drive thru attendant, the one that I just hand a card to, grab my food and toss a "thanks, you too" over my shoulder as I drive away. How many times have I done nothing but leave a tip on the table as an expression of a "good job", when I could have also picked up the pen and wrote on the back on my receipt "Your service was excellent - thanks for making my dinner worry-free & keep up the great work!"
And so - I have conducted a social experiment a couple times in the last few weeks - once with a drive thru attendant and once with my waiter at a restaurant. To the drive-thru attendant, I expressed my appreciation for her sunny disposition and how nice it was for her to simply ask "How are you today?" through the speaker of the drive-thru instead of "Would you like to try a Value Meal?!?" And to my waiter, who's name was Troy, at Hard Rock Destin, I left a note thanking him for his fantastic and humorous service and a guarantee that I would be back. The results? The drive-thru girl smiled at me, blushed a little and simply said that's what they were trained to say (which I know isn't true and I'm sure that was just her response b/c she didn't know what to say to a direct compliment. Ive worked drive-thru, and you're trained to sell the product). And Troy? Before he even saw what I had wrote, he had noticed the writing on the receipt stub and commented that he was going to keep that copy.
My point is, is that there are so many jobs that go without a proper thank you. I'm not sure why we don't hand them out more freely - maybe it's because we just assume people know we're thankful, or perhaps it's b/c we just think of it as "they're just doing their job". Let me tell you, I have heard the saying before, "You don't get rewarded for doing your job," and I say that's crap. It's called a paycheck, or a promotion. That is your bosses way of showing their gratitude for you doing your job and doing it right. But what about situations other than an "employer-employee" relationship? Does that mean a plain, scripted "thank you" is enough all the time? Have you ever been caused to stop and go "Wow, that person was so polite and friendly, it made my day!", and then just walked away? What about the people that made such a huge impact on your life that it has permanently changed you as a person? Have you told them what they mean to you, or do you just chose to assume that they already know? Have you ever wondered why some people just do the bare minimum at their job, and been curious if it was b/c they worked their @$$es off for years without even a small showing of graditude or validation for their work, so they just stopped caring about the quality of work they did? Sure, sometimes a simple "Thanks!" is enough, but sometimes it should be a stepping stone to another expression of graditude.
Lastly, I'll bring this full circle - and I'll ask you again - have YOU ever held a job where you felt that no one was grateful for the work you put in, the effort you made, or the time that you spent? Have you ever just wished for a little more than a cliche "thanks" in response to your dedication? And have YOU done anything to break that cycle? - to show someone that you have noticed their work, knowing that there have been times in your life when you wished someone would have noticed yours?
I would challenge everyone - like my friend Kristian unknowingly challenged me - to break the cycle and express your gratitude for a job well done. It doesn't cost you anything, and the happiness on someones face in reaction to you noticing their hard work is truly priceless.
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