Things Don’t “Just Happen”

thank you

By Vicki Hughes     Posted March 25, 2013

Working in a salon and day spa is a very rewarding and interesting job. A few days ago, I had finished a facial for a new client, and when I finished, I was doing what we call, “turning the room over.” This is the process by which the room is cleaned and prepared for the next guest. Here is a sampling of what that entails: I filed her paperwork, stripped the sheets, took all the used sheets and steam towels to the laundry room, washed and sanitized all the bowls and brushes, grabbed clean sheets and towels, re-dressed the table with sheets and blankets and made the table look inviting, heated up the neck wrap, wiped down all the surfaces and bottles and jars, replaced all the caps and put all the products back in their proper place, laid our a spa wrap, prepped new steam towels (this is code for burning the bejesus out of my fingertips) prep new dry towels, take a deep breath, and compose myself (meaning make sure I am not sweating, and that I don’t look like I just did a fifty yard dash in a windstorm.)

If I am really speedy, and don’t goof off, I might have time to use the potty, or run into the break room and wolf down three bites of the salad I abandoned two hours ago. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. And I realize this is true of all professions. Whatever you do is harder than it looks, if you’re doing it well.

The teacher who spends hours and hours working on great lesson plans that are over in the classroom in less than forty five minutes. No wonder they get a tad crabby when some kids talk too much or are disruptive to the kids who are trying to pay attention.

The chef who goes in at the crack of ridiculous to inspect the freshness of his ingredients, chop, slice and dice and begin the simmering of the soup, which we we will zip through and grab for lunch. Do we even pause five seconds to appreciate the fact that he drug his butt out of bed in the darkness so we could have a lovely corn chowder for lunch?

The veterinarian who spent almost as much time and money to learn his job as a medical doctor, but who is willing to express our dog’s anal glands and clip their ever growing talons so we don’t have to? And they work with that smell. God bless them, I hope they have grown immune to it the same way I can no longer smell shampoo.

The barista who got up at four a.m. to make her kids lunches, and get them hustled off to the babysitter so she could be there to fix your skinny, Venti, mocha latte with extra sprinkles. Tip that girl! She smiled at you and everything.

The farmer in central Tennessee who had to beat some sense into his tractor with his bare hands, to make sure the harvest got in before the rains came and ruined it all. Without him, your soy latte would be light on the soy.

All day, everyday, countless details are being tended to just to take great care of us, the customer. The people who work so hard, know quite well that we could take our business elsewhere if we decided to. They do amazing things to make the two or three minutes we see them seem “easy.”

Today, take a few minutes to appreciate the seamlessness of good service when you see it. Call a manager over and praise their team. Write a quick email or a note of appreciation on your lunch ticket. Tell a friend if you get great service somewhere. Heck, tell two friends.

One of the best things we could do for the economy is to talk up the businesses that are getting it right. Without them, we’d all be left with crappy service from people who don’t give a rip.

What behind the scenes efforts would people be surprised to learn about jobs you’ve had?

© Vicki Hughes 2013

10 thoughts on “Things Don’t “Just Happen”

  1. Kathy

    Well said and so true! Thank you is a gift left behind lately! Happy to have the reminder that life is good.

  2. Scott Carson Ausburn

    Your so right most people don’t realize what all does go on to get some jobs done.I useta run a handyman service during the day while i work the night shift so i know first hand what it takes.First you have to drive to the job then you have to figure out what is wrong then chase down the parts.Hopefully it will be the right part and you don’t need that tool that you have but left it in the garage cuz you were working on something yet to be delivered.When you finally do get it working you maybe have spent 3 hours on a job that took only 30min.People that don’t repair stuff don’t have a clue.And there is the musician that spends time learning how to play,spends several hours before the gig loading in ,setting up and untangling miles of cords and doing sound checks for a 45min set to hopefully make enough to cover his bar tab and gas.So tip that band ( they may need some new strings)and shake their hand tell them that you liked the show.I know about this coz i’m friends with a number of local bands.

    1. admin Post author

      Scott, those are great points. Bands work their butts off so we can listen to them “just sing” 😉

  3. Sarena

    Wow this is “spot on”. And as always full of what this world needs most “thankfulness!” It only takes a second to thank someone for good service, good food, etc. keep these blogs coming I love them!!

  4. Amy

    My last job (that I quit to have a baby) was a customer service nightmare! Couple months after leaving I got a phone call from a co-worker begging me to come back. All the stuff that I did and made look easy (even at 38 weeks prego) they had discovered was a lot harder. We even had customers asking for me to come back. So don’t forget to thank that hard working admin or receptionist!

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