Service with a Scowl

I don't know what's so hard in putting up a pleasant countenance and adding a little pleasure in serving customers and making it enjoyable for them, so much so that companies have to spend money to train and provide incentives for their staff to please the customers. Still, I guess most of these are not working too well.

Within the last one week, I've had encountered bad service 3 times! Twice were with young, impertinent cashier girls, and once with an old fool of my company's HR executive. The problem with cashier girls are a little tricky - the business is not theirs, and they don't plan on holding on to that job until retirement - so what do they care? It's very irritating because you'd be handling your hard-earned money over to an ungrateful, black-faced, scowling brat. For the my recent two encounters, the impertinence included letting me wait, standing at the counters, then having the aforesaid black-faced cashiers come stomping in, snatching (literally) the money out of my hands, then pushing my change and purchases back at me without so much as a 'thank you'. Well, well! These days, I am more well-mannered than to spit my contempt back at these people. A few years ago, when a cashier woman (she's too old to be termed "girl") showed intolerable rudeness and inefficiency, I threw the item I was going to buy back at her, and stomped off, declaring I don't want it anymore. I'm not proud of what I did, but it felt good.

As for the HR old fool, I was very indignant because he'd chided me (in a very insulting manner) for not knowing who to look for for the cancellation of my leave. OK, I admit, it's a little bad that I've worked for the company for so long, and I still don't know the procedure - but hey, that shows that I'm always decided, and always planned my leaves so well, that I don't need to cancel or change the dates once I'd applied for them. And being a non-fickle minded person when it comes to taking days off, am I not doing that old fool a favour by not troubling him changes or cancellations? And to be insulted for that? I think he's seriously more of a liability than an asset to our organisation. What a babi hutan! (Readers, please excuse me language)

Is it really that hard to pleasant? I find it a personal pleasure to speak politely to people (even when I am not gaining anything by doing so) and to smile once or twice in the course of the conversation (although I do not have an enchanting smile). I guess, these days, too many of them are born with the notion that the world owes them a favour. And it's a trait that no amount of team-building or personal development courses will rid, unless they themselves strive to change for the better.