Assisted Procrastination

I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. I have my routine and I do it well – just leave me alone. I’ve previously mentioned my need for coffee to kick-start the day. I could probably live without it, but prefer not to. I also prefer a specific Caribou Coffee not far off my typical route to work. It has a drive-through window which saves me a bit of time and effort in the morning. Typically, I reserve this stop as a personal treat maybe once a week.

Today, I had an early meeting and thought it would be beneficial for all if I had my shot of caffeine prior to any professional interactions. This is my career, after all. Traffic on Wednesdays is particularly brutal so I left early and endured the stuttered drive in, all the while knowing I would have my liquid adrenaline before I had to actually interact. Boy was I in for a shock.

1. It seems there’s a new girl working the drive-in.
2. She’s a morning person.

Now, it’s quite possible that her mornings just begin well before mine so she’s into her own personal “afternoon” by the time I roll through, but in my world it’s barely past 8am. I knew when I placed my order that this was going to be rough. It wasn’t anything that she said, just the fact that she said SO MUCH beyond what was necessary for the transaction (Large Campfire Mocha, please) and she did it in the same tone and volume as a cheerleader kicking off a high school football game. I was *never* fond of cheerleaders.

Don’t get me wrong. She was great. Everything you’d want in a customer service rep any other time of day. When I made it to my turn at the window, she smiled, asked about me and my morning, wished me a heart-felt great day, and said she’d see me again soon. While awaiting my turn in line, she even went so far as to strenuously lean out her window almost into the van in front of me just to wave at the little kid in the backseat (this was another sign the interaction was going to be more than I’d bargained for at that hour).

I am typically quite polite when interacting with the customer service industry. I’ve done my time there and I know customers can suck. I don’t want to be the sucky customer who ruins the day for the customer behind me. For this very reason, I went against my natural instincts to strangle the life out of her – savoring her last gasps for air just before sipping the mini marshmallows off my coffee. While it may have made me feel much better to follow my instincts, I know that listening to the little voice telling me just to smile politely through the experience kept me from ruining the day for the guy in the car behind me.

Is it too much to ask of customer service to respect the morning hours? Maybe we can develop a universal sign identifying those folks who are eager to have those extra special interactions. Those of you who are morning people, I suggest you climb out your windows and wave at the folks inside. The rest of us should just be left to ease into our days in our own ways.

This entry was posted on April 23, 2008 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Wanderings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.