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I remember when I was a little girl and I would go to the grocery store or the bank with my mother. There was a friendly, smiling face behind every counter. They would say "Good morning Mrs. Leigh, how are you today?" They would make small talk and as we would leave they would say things like "Thanks for your business, we hope to see you again soon!". Maybe they didn't mean it, I don't know, but they certainly always sounded genuine.

I understand that towns aren't so small anymore and it's nearly impossible to remember every patron's name. I get that. But these days, people are so accustomed to being treated like just another face in the crowd and being herded through lines like livestock. Why are there 27 checkout counters and only 3 lit up even at the busiest times? The faces at the counters aren't smiling anymore and many times, they won't even make eye contact. And if you need help finding something in a store, unless the employee is commissioned, good luck. At best, they will point their finger and say check aisle 9. They act inconvenienced and irritated.

Recently, I bought a router for my home office. When I got it home and hooked it up, I realized it wasn't working. I called the manufacturer and we went through nearly an hour of troubleshooting, just to determine that I must have got a bad router. The manufacture advised me to return it to the store and exchange it for a new one. So, I hopped in my car, drove right back down to my local superstore and walked up to the so-called customer service desk. I always smile and ask the employees how they are, I don't like to go in and just start screeching about how my purchase was a piece of junk. I understand in order to get respect you have to give it and I don't believe in treating people poorly just because my day isn't going as well as I expected. I used to work retail too and I know it can be a tough job.

I explained my situation to the manager on duty and told him tthe manufacturer advised me to bring back my purchase for a new one because mine seemed to be a dud. He huffed and puffed and rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe the manufacturer would refer me back to the store. Then he told me, with no sugar coating what-so-ever, that if he were to take the router back and give me a new one, it would be exactly like throwing $60 in the trash for him. And he didn't feel like throwing away $60 today.

I explained to him that if he didn't take it back, it would be exactly like me throwing away $60 as well.

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