There is some kindness left in the world...

Have you ever worked with the public?

It's quite an experience. I was a gas station attendant - a glamorous position, I know. My responsibilities included but were not limited to: taking money; managing the pumps; cleaning the store; stocking shelves; training new employees; end-of-the-day reports; handling customer service issues; etc.

Pay attention to the "handling customer service issues" part - that's where the "responsibilities not limited to" portion of my job description came in to play.

You folks who've never worked with the public are going to find this hard to understand: dealing with the public can be bad news. No bueno. Downright ICKY. Customers from the public come in three varieties:

You Mean Nothing to Me: My particular favorite, this type of customer, for whatever reason, knows he or she is better than you. They don't care about your situation, your plans for the future, your obvious disability - they're out for blood and you, as a lowly clerk, waiter or phone operator have plenty to give. All that matters to this customer is their situation, their feelings. Most likely, the company you work for has wronged them in some deeply personal way and that's why you're gonna pay.

Or, they're just snobs. It's really hard to tell the difference.

My Request is Obscure and Frustrating, But of the Utmost Importance: These folks need something from you so strange, so out-of-the-blue that you begin to question whether it's your job to provide the service. You better, though, cause they need it NOW! Hurry! Forget your other customers! Meet my strange and foolish needs!

I'll have an example of this a little later in the post...

I'm a Good and Rational Customer: Yeah, so there are some good customers. And sure, they're the majority, I guess. They're the reason you like your job, the reason you can plaster a smile on your face when you're dealing with the rotten apples. It just seems like the problem-causers are the ones that stick out in your mind.

So what's up with this post? What does this have to do with anything? Let me explain...

I'm planning the first real workshop for my education program today, and I'm trying to get a game/home improvement project together for the first 30 minutes of the session. I decide to wait until today work out the kinks, a mere 48 hours before this program starts.

And let me tell you, I've got some kinks. The game involves identifying nicely-crafted toy tools, a good exercise for every homeowner. I mean, how do you take care of your home if you don't know what your tools are for, right? So I actually find the tools today, confirming their existence in the office. The problem is, they have no instructions, so I (oh irony of ironies) don't know the names of the tools I'm going to use for the tool identification game.

Being the industrious fellow I am, I look on the box for a website. Under construction - great. I go back to the box, find a telephone number, and I do it.

I become Customer # 2 - My Request is Obscure and Frustrating, But of the Utmost Importance.

"Um yes, I'm trying to find a list of the tools included in your Black & Decker 25 piece and 42 piece deluxe tool set."

Yeah, go ahead and add me to the list you give me, buddy - I feel like a tool for asking that.

But lo and behold, the guy goes beyond what he's probably required to do and searches his data banks. He then takes my email address and promises to have me a list by the end of the day.

What a nice guy. That just got me going, and I had to share it. Who said there was no kindess left in the world?

Until next time...