Please and Thank You

At the end of December 2013, I got the opportunity to be a bartender while I was on holiday. It was a crazy experience that taught me more than I thought it would.

Anne Hambuda

Bartenders love it when you tip them. More importantly though, I loved it when customers were kind, courteous and said please and thank you. Yes, it is my job to serve you, regardless of your demeanor, and I will complete your request with a smile on my face, but a little bit of courtesy has never hurt anybody.

Being in the position I was, I finally understood the strains of working in the service industry. It was an interesting vantage point to have, having been on the other end of the exchange several times previously, I grasped the value and importance of not being a difficult customer. I learned how much someone should be appreciated for the little or a lot that they do for you. This is a lesson and habit that I think should be taken to the grave to always appreciate what we have, and be thankful for the people in our lives. Like a bartender, we may not

with what someone has to offer or the effect they have on our lives, and often we may not even notice them enough to care, but we should always be thankful and grateful that they are there in the first place.

Before we could open any doors and serve any customers, we had a whole lot of preparation to do, a lot of back ground work that the customers never got to see, so it’s almost understandable that they did not grasp just how much went into making the night enjoyable for them, a habit that can almost bleed into our real lives. Teachers, garbage collectors, waiters, tellers, cabin crew, cleaners and nurses do a lot more than we see them do, yet we are so quick to take our anger out on them, blame them for trivial matters and forget to thank them.

According to the Bible, appreciation is extremely important. As people, not a lot is expected of us, but giving thanks is exceptionally vital because among other things, it humbles us. At the beginning of my time as a bartender I thought it was the extra bit of change left to me by grateful customers that I would appreciate the most, but it wasn’t. It was the tiny smile the regulars gave, the ones who wanted to know my name or give me a high-five. The customers who said please and thank you like it was second nature, they are the ones who made my experience an amazing one, and because of that, I am more grateful for what I have in my own life. I don’t know exactly what great efforts went into me be- ing as blessed as I am, but for it all, and the more I know is still to come, I am eternally and fully appreciative.

The world is full of people who tend to our needs, who may not even know us. When was the last time you said thank you to someone who made your day a little bit easier?

Anne Hambuda is 18 years old and is a second year Journalism and Communication Technology student at the Polytechnic of Namibia. Follow her on Twitter: @MissAnne- Dastood