Service with a Smile?

     That is how life used to be.  Service with a smile. Now, you are lucky to get just the service at some places.  Living in a tourist town I am amazed at how the majority of people that you run into at places of business are so rude.  Maybe they don't mean to be, and maybe tourists are a bit annoying at time, but come on, at one time or the other we all are annoying.  When  your livelihood depends on these tourists wouldn't it benefit you to be more friendly?  I have walked around town and popped into several shops to browse, usually with one family member or another in tow.  I may love the products in their shop, but if the salesperson is rude I won't shop. 
     A week ago my son and I walked through the old historic shops of old Kona. In one shop the teenage girl had headphones in and never even looked up to acknowledge that we were there.  We turned around and left.  Another shop had two old guys ( I can say that because they were quite
significantly older than me) in it. One guy was ASLEEP and the other guy was playing some card game on his computer.  Never once did he look up from his game. Out we walked.  Now another store we went into the guy greeted us, bantered with us and asked us questions.  I will be back to buy from him. 

     I love when I walk into a store and the clerk makes eye contact, smiles and says hello.  Are we really too busy in today's society to be friendly anymore?  To me it doesn't matter if you work at the convenience store, or at the jewelry store I am going to smile and say hello to you when I come in and I will look you in the eye, as if you truly are a person equal to me, not below my status.  Status? Who made up those rules?  I don't consider myself above a worker that is hired to do yard work or a job that many people in today's society would consider menial.  We are all God's children.  Some may smell a little more strongly than others, but we are all one. 
   
     Also what is it with Tip Jars everywhere?  What happened to just doing your job, because maybe that is what you were hired to do?  Why does everyone think they should be tipped for doing their job? If you are a waiter or waitress or in the service industry where you go above and beyond in your job then it seems to be expected that we tip.  How would you feel if you were getting on an airplane and you walked past the Captain who was standing by a jar that said Tips?  Don't we expect that the Captain is going to fly to the best of his ability anyway?  What if he didn't get enough tips?  Is he going to hit every bit of turbulence to aggravate the passengers?  Or what about the tip jars at the convenience store?  Really, did you go and fill my soda cup or go and pick out the perfect candy for me?  Did you come outside and fill my gas tank?  I think not, so why do you expect a tip for taking my money for something that is priced at least twice the price that it should be just because it is in a convenience store. 

     Speaking of waiters and waitresses, I don't have a problem tipping someone who provides excellent service, but what about the ones that don't?  Why is it that we as a society feel that we should be tipping them no matter what.  OK, they didn't refill my water once, I had to ask twice for the side of ranch that I wanted and I waited forever for them to bring me my bill.  Then, on the bill is their name with a cutesy little smiley face that says "Have a great day, it was a pleasure serving you!" Really, a pleasure?  Maybe because you didn't do anything!!!!  I will not tip if the service isn't there.  Sound mean?  No, just trying to say in my own way that if you give good service I will appreciate you, if you don't then you get your minimum wage and nothing more from me.  I had a porter at the airport that assisted me with the two dogs, their crates, my luggage and frazzled nerves when I was trying to fly out of LAX.  I expected that he would load the crates, take them inside and dump them and leave, expecting a tip.  Not this gentleman.  He waited patiently after we unloaded the crates while I drugged my dogs with a Valium and then helped me load them, took me to the line where I needed to be, waited with the dogs and told me to get in line. He stayed there patiently, not seeming to care that there was several passengers in front of me. He even assisted the gate clerk by putting the stickers on the dogs kennels and prepping them for her, not his job, but doing it anyway.  Not once did he look around impatiently, roll his eyes or have his hand out for a tip.  Needless to say, he did get tipped rather well for doing his job.  I appreciated his effort to make my morning a bit less stressful. 

     I love the concept of service in Europe. At restaurants, most tips are already included in your meal price.  So if you feel that you got particularly great service, you can tip 1 to 2 euros more, but it is not expected, nor are you treated any differently if you don't tip.  In Europe also the most that people tip is 10 percent.  Any more and it is almost considered offensive.  Waiters there are friendly, chatting with you for a bit when they check in on you.  Much different than our society here.  Maybe we need to rethink some things here.  Time to slow down and enjoy life more people.  Life isn't about the money you make, it is about the memories you make. 

     I used to work in an industry where I had to deal with people daily. I tried my best to always be smiling, helpful and courteous. I think that I did my job well. I managed to help everyone with their problem, sometimes I had to ask them to come back if I didn't know the answer right then, but I usually had the answer for them when they returned. I also loved learning about the families that I interacted with.   There were some people that were harder to deal with than others, but that is what makes the world go around.  Nobody said I have to like them, but be polite and serve them, yes.

People are important to me and I like to know about them and what makes them tick as the saying goes. There are some characters that I have seen here on the Big Island that are very interesting looking to me. I ran across a older man yesterday that is skinny, dried up, wrinkled and looks kind of scary.  He has dreadlocks down his back, fingernails that look like  three inch long dragon claws and I am pretty sure he was talking to himself when I went by him. Then there is the older gentleman that rides his Hoveround down Queen K every day. He has American Flags on both sides and wears a veterans hat, so I know he has a good story!  My goal for this month is going to be to get to know someone's story.  Get out of my comfort zone and approach someone and start talking. I just need to be brave and knock those invisible barriers down and learn about the people I live around.