Tuesday, November 27, 2007

This is a shout out to the guy who made my day.

Although I usually take the time to write down what people do wrong, I feel that it is necessary that I interject my complaints with a positive note. It truly is rare when we get compliments at Panera, other than "wow, that was fast." You may think that it a compliment, but to us, a customer telling us we were "fast" usually implies you usually think we are slow. So, avoid that one if you really want to say something nice.

Today, I tell you a story of triumph.

A couple of weeks ago, on a steady Sunday night, my co-workers and I were scrambling to get orders done. The difference between a busy and steady day is that a busy day usually has a lull period where we can catch our breath and clean, while a steady day has a slow, continuous line the entire duration of the shift.

So, we were dead tired as it was near close and we weren't cleaned up at all.

A man ordered something like two bowls of soup and one of those infamous Chipotle sandwiches that takes a few minutes to grill. He stood by the counter...

(which on a side note: DRIVES US UP THE WALL. When customers stand on the counter and breath all over food, that's just nasty. Will blog on this later)

...and just watched us work, so I assumed he was probably impatient. After a minute or so, I told him his sandwich was nearly done and he looks at me, SMILES (nearly fainted here,) and says,

"You guys do a great job. I'm in no rush, so please, don't worry about it. I'm just happy you guys are open so I can grab dinner tonight."

You better believe that guy got the perfect Chipotle, and a genuine thank you and "have a nice day" from me.

It's the little things guys, that has seriously kept me positive that some people appreciate us, even if just a little.

I dare to dream others will display this appreciation someday too.

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