I have been working at this chain for a few years, so I am quite proficient at my job and am usually commended on my customer service.

I am on the dinner shift taking orders for drive-thru. As it is a busy night, they have rostered enough people on so that I can just take orders and I have a coworker next to me taking the money. There is already a long line of cars waiting to have their orders taken.

This particular fast food chain has timers for how long it takes from the customer arriving at the speaker box to when they pull out of the drive-thru. These will vary slightly depending on the length of your drive-thru. Our particular store has a three-minute timer that we are supposed to meet consistently to stay in the green.

Me: “Hi, welcome to [Restaurant]. Please place your order.”

The customer is in a van and is taking orders from various people in the car. Any time when it sounds as if she has finished her order, I ask:

Me: “Is there anything else I can get for you today?”

I have my managers talking over my headset, giving me updates on the timer, as they have cleared all of the drive-thru customers before her. The timer is over five minutes, and the line of cars is blocking most of the small car park. As we have two speaker boxes, one behind the other, the managers have already taken the order for the car stuck behind her, which is a singular meal.

This whole time, I have been as polite as possible and not said anything rude, but all of us in the store are getting frustrated, wishing she had come into the store to order. Around the seven-minute mark, I ask her:

Me: “Is that all tonight?”

Customer: “Yes.”

Finally! There is an audible sigh of relief from everyone listening in on the headset.

Customer: “For my second order…”

We do allow split orders in the drive-thru, though only usually two per car.

This order didn’t take quite as long, but I politely tried to hurry her along as she was well over the timer and had ruined our times for the night. We are ranked against all the stores in the country, and occasionally, the managers will offer free meals if we don’t go over the time on any cars.

She finally pulled up to the window at about the ten-minute mark. I was taking the next customer’s order and my frustrated coworker, who has less patience than I, was still polite but quite short with her trying to hurry her through the drive-thru.

After she finally left, my manager came down to tell me that she had complained about me, saying I was rude and rushing her through her order. Fortunately, my managers know I am always polite and listened to the whole conversation on the headset.

I used to work in a very established small hair salon in a fancier part of town. We had quite a few older women who would come in every week to get their hair set, and they had been doing so since time immemorial.

After working there for a few years, I got engaged to my now-husband. I didn’t make a great song and dance about it, but I did wear my new ring to work and these ladies sure did notice!

About an hour after the first client of the day came in, the flowers started arriving! When I was distracted, one of the ladies had made a quick call, and the word had spread very quickly. I ended up with so many flowers I couldn’t take them all home that day!

Related:
Kindness In Bloom

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for January 2021!

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Due to the iffy public transport where I live, I usually have to wait about half an hour after my shift ends before I can catch the bus home. Therefore, I usually bring a book or two, and after my shift is done I read at one of the tables by the window.

One day, I’m done with my shift, so I sit at the table. I’ve got two books, one that I’m just finishing and one that I’m about to start. About five minutes later, two young men come in.

Customer #1: “I’m telling you, man, the only people who work in stores like these are kids or idiots! Or special needs weirdos.”

Customer #2: “Dude, you’re being an a**hole. Not everyone can afford Uni on their own. Most people need jobs like these.”

Customer #1: “Uni? Nah, no way any of these losers is at Uni. I’ll prove it.”

Sure enough, [Customer #1] walks up to me. I mentally sigh.

Customer #1: *Ridiculously loud and slow* “What are you reading?”

Me: *In a normal voice* “It’s an analysis of the opioids problem in the United States.”

He suddenly speaks in a normal voice, sounding a little put-off.

Customer #1: “Oh. But what about this one?”

Me: “My other book? An exploration of the use of submarine warfare during the Cold War and how it affected the evolution of submarines.”

Customer #2: “Wait, what kind of history degree are you doing?”

Me: “None? I’m doing primary teaching. This is just fun reading.”

Customer #1: “No way. No one reads these sorts of books for fun.”

My coworker, who is on the front register, decides to speak up.

Coworker: “Oh, this is nothing. Last week she was reading up on medieval torture devices.”

Oddly enough, the guys decided to leave me alone after that.

I am ordering fast food in my local shopping mall’s food court, happily waiting to receive my order, when the following catches my attention.

A previous customer has ordered and stood off to the side while they wait for their food. Where they are standing, they are actually in front of the next food place’s counter.

A staff member comes to the counter, calls out an order number, and glances around to see who is coming to collect it. I see the person raise their hand, but they don’t step forward to collect their food. When the staff member doesn’t notice this, they start waving.

Because they’re essentially standing in front of a different food place, the staff member hasn’t seen them and calls out the number again. At this point, the person actually starts clapping their hands to get the staff member’s attention, apparently expecting to have the staff member bring the food to them, rather than walking over to the collection point, which is all of a few metres away.

Talk about being lazy.

My roommate and I have applied to rent two different properties but prefer [Property #2] to [Property #1]. Because we put in for [Property #1] first, we have been expecting to hear back from them first.

Real Estate Agent: “Hello, this is [Real Estate Agent] from [Company]. I’m calling to let you know that you have been approved for [Property #2]. It’s yours if you still want it.”

Me: “Thank you so much! I’ll get back to you after I check with my roommate and the other rental we’re waiting to hear from. Thanks again. I’ll let you know soon.”

I speak to my roommate.

Me: “So, we’re approved for [Property #1]. I’m just going to give [Property #2]’s real estate a call to find out where they’re up to with our application.”

I call the number and the same real estate agent that I have just been speaking to answers.

Me: “Hi, this is [My Name]. I have a rental application pending with you and I was just wondering whether you could tell me if it has been processed.”

Real Estate Agent: “Um, as I just told you, you’ve been approved. That means it’s yours if you want it. Have you checked with the other real estate yet?”

Embarrassed, I pause while I hope for the ground to swallow me up.

Real Estate Agent: “You thought I was from the other real estate the first time, didn’t you?”

Me: “Yes.”

Real Estate Agent: “Do you still need to check with them or your roommate?”

Me: “No, yours was the one we wanted. We’ll definitely take it. Thank you.”

After getting off the phone:

Me: *To my roommate* “So, we got [Property #2], but I made a huge fool of myself.”

Roommate: *Excited* “We got [Property #2]?!”

Me: “I’m too mortified to be happy.”