While at a restaurant, a waitress may not have been the greatest and wasn't prompt with her service to a customer.
But Stop... The customer doesn't know her story and doesn’t know what she is going through. Maybe she's a single mother with 2 kids and this is her part time job just so her kids can have nice clothes and food on the table. So she is worn out just like your favorite pair of jeans. So before speaking about your slow service, maybe reconsider what you say and speak thoughtfully. Granted she could also be a total fool and is just slacking off, but you as a customer don’t know this for sure. Being thoughtful is always better than rude, right?
The same goes for that waitress.
Think. The waitress doesn't know their customer's story. Yes, maybe they have the finest clothes and buy the most valuable wines. But maybe they are lonely. Maybe they just lost a loved one. Who knows really? Maybe they are a doctor that saves lives every day, yet cries every night for the one he could not save. You don't know. Granted, for all we know this person won their money with their gambling habit.
But regardless, I think we need to speak thoughtfully.
I think we live in a world that often believes what we clearly see is the answer. But we are so much more with layers and layers. So before you jump to judge someone, open your eyes a little bit more. Open your heart just little bit more. We are all human and deserve to be treated with respect and compassion.
You may wonder what inspired me to write this. This is something I've always lived by. Yet, I fail at it too from time to time. Especially in moments were I'm very angry and upset. But my recent inspiration to share this reminder of my little life motto is that I recently started working a part time job at McDonald's. And wow, the sheer number of people that come in and out of that place is insane. I've only been there few short weeks and I've seen my fair share of not so nice people. Being new I have f-ed up and honestly, because how fast pace that place is, there's just bound to be a lot f-ups. But I'm running off on a tangent here. I won't focus on the bad customers.
Last night in the midst of a crazy dinner rush, I was working the front counter, taking order after order for an hour nonstop. But we came to a little lull, and I was standing there nervously waiting for all the food to hit the trays. As I was standing there, I felt I should been doing something, anything. Especially since all my coworkers were bustling around grabbing food, making milkshakes, ice cream cones, etc for the counter and drive-thru.
Then a man whose order I just took spoke up (It took me a minute to register his face, that he was indeed the man that just placed an order for a Big Mac meal) , "Don't worry. You are doing just fine. Just breathe and you will get used to this." At that moment, I realized that I was transparent with my nervousness and not knowing what to do. So I was a little taken back, but at same time I thought it was very kind of him say something. He saw me as person not just a robot taking orders. He took the time and saw my emotion, which so many people gloss over. So thank you, kind man, for reminding me of my motto and your encouragement of the crazy dance floor of McDonald's. I think one day I will figure out the ins and outs of this waltz!
Then something else happened that night. It was nearing the end my shift (11pm). This lady pulls up in the drive thru and I noticed that she had been crying. Her cheeks were all shiny, and I could just feel her sadness. My heart ached for her and honestly, I felt I the urge to cry for her. I asked my one coworker if he noticed, He said, "No, was she crying because we were running late with her meal?!" (Hmm, no. I don't believe so.) I didn't really put this together until I started writing this. But this kind of proves my point: we don't really see sometimes. When it’s time to hand her the food, I didn't know what to say. I was trying to scrounge up some nice words or anything, but I was really at a loss for words. So, I just decided to be nice and smile. I don't know if it touched her, but I hope my little act of niceness helped in some way or another. I hope dearly that her day is better today.
So, if you could just remember we have these interesting back-stories that effect who we are each day. That a smile and kindness really can go a long way. So with that, I hope you all have a good day and that you can let your teeth out for a little fresh air once in a while. ;)
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