People watching has always been a fun thing for me. The differences observed can be over whelming, either positively or negatively. You know ; you’ve made similar observations throughout the years.

Here is an example. Byron and I were having my car serviced and we sat in a waiting room with seven other people, all waiting for the word, ” Your vehicle is ready “. Three of the seven were on computers ( stands to reason in today’s world ) ; one was texting on her cell phone ; one gentleman, surprisingly, was doing nothing ; one was playing Word Search on a REAL booklet ; one was reading a REAL magazine ; one was doing needlepoint ( guess who ); and one was reading a thriller on his NOOK ( guess who ). Found this to be an interesting brief commentary on human interests and today’s culture. My thought : so happy to see a healthy division between the world of technology and other interests.

———————————————

And then there’s critical thinking regarding people-watching which looks to courtesy, competency, helpfulness, and/or to rudeness, incompetency, disregard. Examples :

Same day, same place : while we were in waiting room, customer service representative dropped by to assure us that if we were uncomfortable with the number of people in said waiting room, there was an empty room close by. Nobody moved because seats were spread out. Later in the morning the power went out and customer service representative came into waiting room to ask if were all right and to apologize for the inconvenience. Competent, helpful, courteous.

Same day, same place : I was sitting facing the coffee/sweet roll area ( all gifts for waiting customers ) and the microwave caught on fire. A customer was using it, so I assumed she reported it. WRONG ! Obviously, no report, so I caught a young employee in the hall and shared my concern. In five minutes microwave was dismantled and gone ! Competent, helpful, courteous.

Same day, same place : the power issue was a blown transformer in the neighborhood so the ability to pay the bill with credit/debit cards was gone. But our very special salesman/friend came to check on us, went to billing, and assured us that we could pay with a check or cash ( check for us ; never carry cash ! )——–by flashlight or phone light ! We were out of there. Competent, helpful, courteous.

This was not intended as an ad for Heyward Allen Toyota in Athens, but I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Kudos to this dealership for its competency, helpfulness, and courtesy————-and Tim Jump’s the man !!!!!!

The other side of the coin : shopping locally and couldn’t locate a brand I wanted. Asked the cute young blonde cashier about my problem, and she replied, ” I don’t know. ” Not ” check such and such an aisle ” or ” let me check for you ” or ” I’ll ask somebody “. Just ” I don’t know “. Methinks she needs further training——perhaps at Heyward Allen !!!!!

—-Please scroll down to comment or share…..