Even Though There's A Lot We Can't Control...We Can Always Choose To Be Kind

We all have crap days at work--it's why they call it "work." I have them, at work I talk to others who are having crap days. I guess without the crap days, we wouldn't be able to appreciate the good ones. Tonight, we had an opportunity to witness some overworked employees who appeared to be having some crap days.

And I had a choice, of how I could react.

We utilize the eShop option at Harmons Grocery Store. We do this for several reasons, convenience mostly. We continue to use their service because the store continues to offer great service. Sure, there's been a few times we've had to wait a little long for our order, but nothing too bad. 

Then came this week, and nothing is what it once was.

Tonight, we made an order, not large, but we wanted to get the order in before the weekend. Normally, the service at Harmons is so good they complete the orders sometimes hours a head of time. Not tonight. Tonight we received no notice the order was ready when our 7pm time arrived. Since we had to pick up a few things we forgot on the order, we thought we'd drive to the store and go inside for the forgotten things. Surely, they'd be done around the same time as us.

In the store I noticed someone near a cart the store used to gather the orders. I struck up a conversation with an employee just letting them know we were there. 

"I've got someone working on your order right now--it's a small order so it shouldn't take too long."

Great, we told them. We'll wait outside.

My wife and I waited in the parking lot. After a half hour, we contacted them. They pulled out a cart and asked our name. Turns out, the order was for someone else--they had mixed up the names. The employee said they were starting to gather our order and it would be a little while until it was done. He felt bad--I didn't want him to feel bad so I started asking him questions. Turns out, they had twice the orders they normally get on a Thursday night. He said one worker was supposed to leave at 3pm. It was 8pm and she was still there. They called in someone else on their day off to help for a few hours. They worker looked tired, which I'm sure he was.

Right then, we had a choice. We could have lost it and unloaded on him. We knew we'd need to go home and come back. Not getting groceries--especially when they might not be there later--can be stressful. But, think about this poor guy and the rest of the employees. Imagine being told to stay home to avoid being sick, but your job requires to you be around people all day. Do you think the employees might be a little stressed, not even considering dealing with stressed out and worried people all day?

We all have things that are beyond our control, especially now. But, we do have the choice to be kind. I hope I can follow my own advice. It just make things so much better.