If you can't say anything nice....

Have you ever heard the saying "you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar"? I never really, truly appreciated that saying until I started working with the public. It always amazes me when see someone that is being such an A**hole that all you really want to do is just hang up on them...of course, after telling them where to go and how got get there...ok, see that crack in the earth? Ok...see that hot magma boiling? Yeah? Ok, well, there's a guy down there who has several alias', you may want to pay him a visit. I think you get my drift.

Like in restaurants...I understand when you order something and it's just not right. After all, you are paying for it, but do you really, really want to yell at the poor waiter or waitress? It really is the cooks fault...your best bet is to be very nice about it...you just never know what extra condiments are going to be added. Those crunchy's on top of that augratin potatoes? Dried boogers anyone? That extra smooth gravy with that ONE lump? I am thinking someone has a nasty sinus infection. Yeah, I could have save the visuals but what fun would that be? Be nice and ask what can be done, don't demand...and don't not tip the waitress...talk to the manager if it's not settled to your satisfaction.

Just a little anecdote, we were at our local pizza place and we sat down, ordered (the manager came and took our order, a minute later, our waitress came and was surprised our order was already taken.. we waited...and waited. You could tell they were busy and when our waitress came to apologize because it was taking a while,  we assured her it wasn't a big deal. A few minutes later, we see her coming, as she is walking to the table with the hot pizza in her outstretched hand, some unseen force just tilted that pizza off the pan and on to the floor. At that point, I felt so horrible for her. When she approached the table you could see the fear in her eyes, just waiting for the dressing down...she offered us bread sticks while they baked another pizza. Each time she came to the table, I thought she would burst into tears. She seemed utterly defeated.

Yes, we could have got mad, yelled and made a scene. What did we do? We ate our pizza (num, btw) and left her a 30% tip. On the way out I told her that everyone has bad days and it can only get better. She told me that she is a single mom, working the waitressing job AND started back to school in many years just that week and was overwhelmed by everything. So, when you want to get crabby at someone...step back and stop. Stop and think, what kind of day has that person had up until now, a little kindness can go a long way. I hope I made a difference in her week.