Decision that I’m going to talk about this one that goes back over 30 years, to either my junior or senior year in high school.
I got a job at my local Arby’s. It wasn’t the first job that I ever had, but it was my second or third job, and of those few jobs that I had, it was probably the one that required the most customer interaction for me.
I remember, in my first full day of training on the registers, one of the very first customers I got, was a standoffish, jerky guy. I took his order, and totaled it, and he gave me more cash than what he needed to. His order was like five dollars and some change and he gave me a 10. it wasn’t that I couldn’t do the math as much as it was that I put a total on the register, and had to think on the fly as to how much change to give him
for some reason, I just froze. I locked up. All of a sudden he starts counting out loud “five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. You are fucking re****ed “he said to me. The young woman who was training me that they barely waited, long enough for him to turn his back to us before she said, “asshole!“ And perfect conversational voice.
I was really rattled. Because this was my biggest fear of a customer service experience coming to life. I feel like this guy just completely saw it right through me. I wanted to leave the floor. To be honest with you, I kind of wanted to cry.
But something went off in my head. Even at the age of 17, or 18 I realized “Rob, you can do one of two things here: you can either walk away, and let this guy get the best of you forever; or, you can learn the stuff and prove this wrong.” I chose the latter. To this day, the four years that I spent working at Arby’s was probably One of the best job experiences I’ve ever had.
sometimes I end up revisiting the lesson of that day when I’m talking to my students. I will tell them “the thing about growing up is that sometimes you have to do things that you don’t really want to do.” Needless to say, this lesson has stuck with me for a very long time.
What is one decision that you made in the past that has helped you to learn or to grow?
Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts
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- Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)
- The Muscle of Empathy
- Where Do We Go From Here? Five Years Since January 6.
- Bugs, Boundaries, and the Art of Not Being Invisible
The article “turning the other cheek” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.
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