“He is heading to New York but..”

A friend was in a line to speak to an airline official. The person in front of him was obviously in a bad mood and he was screaming obscenities at the lady behind the counter. The screaming was completely uncivilized and disrespectful and everyone in the queue was disgusted at the man’s behavior. For her part, the lady behind the counter remained calm. Eventually, the man in front got what he wanted, gave a parting rude comment, and left.

This friend immediately remarked that he was impressed by the way she handled the situation.

Before I give you her response, I’d just like to point out that I believe anger is counter productive. We think it is within our rights to be angry at a service provider who has screwed up but it almost always only worsens the situation. I’ve seen anger work as an intimidation tactic sometimes but being nice seems to be a pretty safe bet in most cases.

Back to this friend then. The lady behind the counter smiled and said – “Thank you sir. These things happen. It is our duty to be our best selves in front of our customer. Anyway, he is heading to New York but his baggage is heading to San Francisco.”