Special Feature: Founder’s Post
Do I know about customer service during the holidays? Oh yes… yes, I do.
I worked in Customer Service for my entire career until I started PostBack. Yup… 25+ years in Customer Service. I worked every Christmas eve and most Christmas days for my entire 20’s. I gotta say it was HELL.
The Christmas College Barista Experience
During college, I spent many a Holiday making people coffee. Yes, I was a Barista for many years while working my way through college. I spent 4 Christmases stuck at an espresso machine calling out drinks until my voice was hoarse. Seriously people, you cannot take a break from your latte for one damn day. Do you really need to go get an espresso drink soooooo bad on Christmas that you have to go to a coffee shop?
The Dreaded Holiday Retail Experience
I spent many other Holidays working retail. Selling items for hours and hours to consumers desperate to buy the perfect gift for their loved ones. I spent days and weeks listening to the same piped-in Holiday music while wrapping gifts and ringing up transactions. To this day, when I hear Baby its Cold Outside I twitch from working retail on the Holidays. It also makes me twitch because damn, shouldn’t people realize that girl is getting me too’d?!?
The Veterinary Holiday Experience
Later, after finishing college, I spent many years in a Veterinary Hospital saving your pets’ lives on the Holidays. I held countless dogs while they threw up entire turkeys, Christmas chocolate, and once an entire care package of Christmas cookies. Side note, Christmas cookie dog vomit is seriously the best smelling dog vomit. TMI? I have started IVs on dehydrated cats that refused to eat or drink because your Aunt Martha was visiting for Christmas. I have held countless paws that were euthanized during the Holidays because they just couldn’t make it thru for their owners and it was time. I have been yelled at countless times because “there goes our Christmas.” When, in fact, I have told you that your dog needed surgery and you were not financially prepared for that eventuality.
Dig Deep, Harness Some Patience, and Show Some Gratitude
My point behind all of this is… working during the Holidays is a nightmare for Customer Service Staff. It is beyond painful. People are mean. It is busy. No one has patience and the music on endless repeat is THE WORST!
What can we do as consumers to make it better? Tip your barista. Bring snacks to your Veterinarian’s team. Believe me, we remember every client who brings us cookies. Be patient with the cashier who is ringing up your items. They are desperately trying not to have a breakdown from hearing “White Christmas” for the 150th time that day. These glorious workers need some love. They need someone to look them in the eye and acknowledge their pain. Please, fellow humans, go with the flow and be kind to your retail workers this Holiday season!
