How Do YOU Define Good Service?

Today on my lunch hour I went to the UPS store to ship several boxes to my Summer Palace.  The young man working behind the counter was very professional, and VERY polite.  He managed to work the word "ma'am" into every sentence, as in "are the boxes all going to the same place ma'am", or "have you shipped with us before ma'am" or "what's your phone number ma'am".  Every sentence, although polite beyond words, was said with an unsmiling expression.

He finished weighing and measuring 4 of the 5 boxes, then started to give me a total price.  I pointed out that he missed a box, and without a "sorry" or "oops", he started weighing and measuring that box too.  I made a decidedly lame joke like "it must be 5 for the price of 4 today", which elicited no response, not even a glimmer of a smile.  Just silence.  I tilted my head and said "that was a joke - feel free to laugh!, and again, no response whatsoever.  The other guy behind the counter snickered; even the customer in line behind me laughed.  My guy - nada.

At first I was uncomfortable, then annoyed.  Then I realized that the clerk also never made eye contact with me.  Super efficient, but no sign of human emotion whatsoever.  Robot?  New bio-engineered human being tested by UPS to kill off Fedex?  Those thoughts made me smile, and as I signed my receipt, I admired the pen I was given to sign.

"You can have it ma'am".

"Really?  This is payment for not laughing at my joke, right?"

"No ma'am."

The other guy behind the counter was laughing hard now.  I smiled, thanked the young man who was still showing no expression whatsoever, and walked out with a smile and bounce to my step.  Even if he didn't laugh, he still made me smile.

As I was driving home, I thought more about the rather odd encounter.  Maybe the kid has Asperger's or some other form of autism.  I wonder how someone else might handle the same type of encounter - would they laugh, or would they get mad and complain about the service?

I got excellent service - everything was done quickly and accurately.  But that tiny moment where I was uncomfortable could have led me down an entirely different thought path.

Best of luck to you young man.

Nerves of Mush

Only 5 days before I leave for my Summer Palace, with Grace and Sam in tow.  I've put both carriers in the house with comfy blankets and catnip in them to get them used to their temporary home, but so far only Sam has taken the bait.  He's checked out both carriers but has definitely settled on one.  Grace, on the other hand, won't go near them even with the enticement of catnip.  For some reason I thought she'd be the easy one!

It'll be fine.

I'm nervous about a day and a half in the car with two howling cats and what that will do to their stress levels (not to mention mine).

It'll be fine.

My (first) surgery has been scheduled for right after I arrive, on May 8, so I'm nervous about that too.  Who will take me to the hospital, who will take me home, how much pain will there be, can I go on my business trip at the end of the month, who will feed my cats while I'm gone?

It'll be fine.

What have I forgotten to do before my trip?  I got my dentist and doctor exams out of the way, and I'll get my boxes shipped tomorrow and my oil changed sometime this week.  Even though I have a list I've been using for 5 years, I always feel like I'm forgetting something.  With two cat carriers in the car, will I have room for the stuff I can't ship?

It'll be fine.

Deep breath.  Get some rest.  Eat right.  It'll be fine.