Merry Whatever

[Clodfobble]

Why do retail employees have to wish me anything, dammit? Can't I just get an insincere "have a nice day" like every other day of the year? We all just want to get through the line faster anyway...

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Why do retail employees have to wish me anything, dammit? Can't I just get an insincere "have a nice day" like every other day of the year? We all just want to get through the line faster anyway...

Oh, a woman after my own heart! I hate chatty sales clerks. But of course it's good for business when they act like that. Or is it?? In Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton write about an effort on the part of 7-11 to make sure all the employees were smiling and happy to all the customers. How did it work out?

This was good fun, but was it worth the money? . . . The main finding . . . was that clearks in stores with more sales were actually less courteous. Apparently, the crowding and long lines in busy stores made clerks and customers grouchy. This research ultimately helped convince executives to scale back courtesy programs and realize that, for most 7-Eleven customers, good service meant getting out of the store fast, not fake smiles and insincere social amenities.

Yes, I'm starting to read management books. It's a sign of the Apocalypse.

FWIW this is my favorite take on Merry Christmas.

[glatt]

That's interesting. But I think that only applies to retail situations. I've read another study which concludes that in a restaurant, a waiter is able to get better tips if they do something small to make you think of them as a person. Things like telling you their name, squatting down at your level to take your order, maybe even touching your shoulder briefly will all tend to gain them a significant increase in tips by the end of the night. Usually 10 to 30 percent more, if I recall correctly.

[SteveDallas]

Oh, I'm sure it's true that the dynamics change in different environments.

Originally Posted by glatt

squatting down at your level to take your order

I personally would consider this weird.

Originally Posted by glatt

maybe even touching your shoulder

I wouldn't appreciate this at all, and I can't imagine most people would. But maybe I'm just antisocial!

The biggest thing a server can do to make me happy is to not fucking disappear when we decide it's time to get the check and leave. Don't these people WANT us to pay the bill and leave so they can turn our table over to another party of paying customers? Apparently not.