What’s in a name? Maybe a smile….
When we were traveling last week we stopped at a Bojangles in Kentucky for a quick meal. We walked in and this young lady asked if she could help us. Reading her name tag, I said something like, ‘you sure can Gloria’ and with the words barely out of my mouth I noticed this large grin on her face.
Gloria looked at me and said, ‘no one ever uses my name, its always girl or hey you.’ I always try to use a name if I see it, and her response made me realize this wasn’t the first time I had gotten such a response. Another time I said hello to a young black woman working at a store and as she smiled she said, ‘you are the first white person to ever say my name right.’ We both laughed.
Its not hard to treat someone like you would want to be treated so take a second and put forth a little effort. Say hi, use their name, smile… it might be worth your while 🙂
Wondering about the Frankenstein pic?Â
I was smiling as I read this because I do the same thing. If a name tag is worn, I always say their name at least once in the conversation. I remember I stopped at a gas station once and I used the gents name and he blushed..lol. I think it really catches some off guard when we use their names because it really isn’t something most do, but you can always see that spark in their eyes when you take the time to notice. Great post, my friend 😀
Great post, Mike 🙂 I agree. More people should do this. In my job I always try to remember people’s names…although I’m better at doing this with kids than adults…it makes a tremendous difference. People love it when you know who they are.
Ginger,
I don’t even think you need to know them, but if you see their name, go ahead and use it. Always seems to lift their spirits. 🙂
Hey Mike Ward, this Mike Ward also uses the name when I can see it and it almost always gets you a friendly conversation and sometimes gets you preferencial treatment.