On Gratitude and Employees

As Thanksgiving comes rolling around the corner, it’s important that kindness goes both ways, especially at work.

Reese Bennett, Columnist

As with many holidays, Thanksgiving weekend has stores expecting to be packed with customers. Employees from a wide range of stores will be staying to work the busy days of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and a good chunk will likely not be happy about it.

Everybody has probably had at least one employee at a fast-food restaurant, store, or even movie theatre look like they’re in a deep state of melancholy. Not all employees look done because they’ve had to deal with difficult people though. Dealing with people comes along with any job, so it’s always better to put effort into being a friendly and polite employee. Everyone loves In-N-Out and Chick-Fil-A because they have such great customer service. The people at the drive-thru are kind, look you in the eye, and actually seem like a real person. They definitely reach peak standards as employees. If you have a job, it would be better if you put some effort into being good-natured and mannerly.

However, there’s no doubt that working in customer service is hard. You have to deal with rude and disrespectful people, or little kids who scream. Many jobs can also be stressful and sometimes physically tolling. Holidays can be chaotic as well. For instance, many stores, such as Macy’s, Toys R Us, and Target are staying open next weekend, according to BestBlackFriday, so some employees won’t be able to be home with their families, and there’s just so many people. So, especially with holidays associated with compassion arriving, everyone should try their best to be a polite and mannerly customer. It doesn’t take much time or effort just to be kind, and it would probably make the staff a lot happier.

Courtesy shouldn’t just last through the Thanksgiving weekend either. Politeness in both the employee and the customer should continue to the end of the year, and through the next year, and so on. Being considerate could really improve somebody’s day. In fact, a Dartmouth review on the health benefits of kindness states that being kind can help lower cortisol, the hormone that causes stress, and decrease anxiety. Just being civil has the potential to brighten the worker and the customer’s day. Whether you’re shopping or at the cash register, take time to be gracious and you’ll fit right in with the benevolent holiday spirit.