Breaking news…or maybe not. I am reporting a death at the Wal-Mart. Which Wal-Mart? Any actually, or Target or any local grocery store for that matter. You see this death can unfortunately be witnessed anywhere in our society today, Wal-Mart just happened to be the scene of the crime for me. It’s not the death of fashion sense as many of you are thinking, though that is evident as well. It is the death of common courtesy. It saddens me and infuriates me all at once that common courtesy is something I now consider a special treat just out of my reach that makes me oh so happy to be on the receiving end on occasions that are few and far between. From the aggressive jockeying for a parking space in the parking lot to the blocking of the entrance while wrapping up a cellphone call, so many people seem to be oblivious to those around them. Where does this sense of entitlement come from? What makes someone believe it is more important for them to get that item off the shelf than it is for the person standing in front of that shelf, and to do it without the two simple words, “excuse me” preceding their action?
In my opinion, customer service goes hand in hand with common courtesy as well, yet it has become increasingly more difficult to find anymore. This is even more surprising given business owners actually pay their employees to make us feel welcome. How you treat your customer is how you should treat a guest in your home isn’t it? Make them feel so welcome they walk away with a pleasant feeling and want to come back for another visit. Common courtesy. If someone came to visit your home and asked you where the bathroom is located, you would likely walk them down the hall to the left and show them where it is located. If someone came to your place of business and asked you where the shower curtains were you should probably walk them to that aisle and show them where they are located. You might even want to do it with a smile on your face.
A few years back, Wal-mart came out with the genius idea of specifically hiring employees to be “greeters” at the entrance to their stores. Forgive me if I sound ignorant, but shouldn’t all employees be “greeters” and if you are actually going to pay people to say “hello” and “welcome” to your customers shouldn’t they follow through and say “thank you for coming” or something along those lines as your customers exit the store? Instead, they ask for your receipt supposedly with the purpose of ensuring you didn’t sneak anything in your cart after you paid which would be an impressive feat in and of itself. This receipt perusal doesn’t give the customer a warm fuzzy feeling…just saying. Maybe it wouldn’t bug me so much if there was any possible way this employee could actually determine all the items in my cart actually match the items on the receipt in the 0.23 seconds they take to review the receipt, glance at the cart, and mark the receipt with the all important yellow highlighter or scribble of their choice before you may exit the store.
Of course, upon exiting said store the death of common courtesy is all over the parking lot too. Nothing like arriving at your car to load your purchases only to find someone thought it perfectly acceptable to leave their shopping cart directly behind your car, instead of walking a couple of steps to return it to the shopping cart area. And if it’s your lucky day, you may find a dirty diaper on the ground as you open your car door!
RIP Common Courtesy. You are gone but not forgotten.
Bravo for a great article. When I was teaching, we taught the children common courtesies, such as: how to ask for things and how to say thank you..no grabbing, etc. We had an entire program about respect, cooperation, responsibility and more. Many parents were raising children with these skills, but many were not. The lack of manners continues onto the roadways. Yikes! But that’s another post! lol
Thank you. I have a hard time with this as it does seem to be an epidemic of sorts. My husband laughs at me every time I give my kids a lecture in public just loud enough for those lacking manners around us to hear. 😉 I really appreciate your comments and the time you took to explore my posts today.
The death of common courtesy and customer service. It is a sad state of affairs. Our area is getting a Target FINALLY. Cannot wait to never have to go to Wal-Mart again! I so glad you found my post and told me about yours. It gives me hope that there are enough of us left who care enough to keep manners alive.
HI there I too am from NY I grew up on the lower east side of Manhattan, I place I hardly recognize now but that’s a whole other conversation and I am also a homeschooling mom AND I too mourn the death of common courtesy…My husband and I are quasi- fascist when it comes to the instilling courtesy and common manners in our 5 kiddos. Thanks for the post.
I completely agree with you. I will generally go out of my way to let a manager know when I have a good experience. Although, sometimes the manager could give a rip too but I can’t control that. I love the idea of supporting the little guy and not the big box stores but sometimes that’s easier said than done.
I go out of my way to let a manager know about good service too. I’m sure they hear more negative than positive feedback!
What a great vent! I love Yelp!! And the sites that have been created specifically, for the eloqently stated here. Review sites such as yelp give us that opportunity to compliment specific incidents where we were given great service and complain when given terrible service.
But you are right, in general…the art of customer service has been lost. There are shows out now where bosses spy on their employees… some are blown away by the way they go above and beyond their call of duty regardless of minimum wage and others are caught in outrageous conduct.
I loved how you pointed out how certain stores had to hire greeters. And you are right, for the most part they lose their enthusiasm by the time we walk out the door, if they do thank us it feels more like because we were leaving rather than for shopping there!!!! lol.
Nicely stated!!
Thank you!