What you want?

Has anyone else noticed the complete lack of customer service today.  My first job taught me the importance of taking care of the customer.  It is well known that the best way to get a repeat customer is to treat them well.  Why then do we tolerate the poor service and treatment that is so common now?  It is because the majority of businesses treat you like they are doing you a favor.  In order to get the products you need, you have to put up with the idiots.

In my youth, I would greet each customer by saying, "Hello, how are you today?".  Often times they would reply with a smile or other pleasant greeting.  Rarely they would reply with a nasty comment.  No matter what, I would continue to smile and say "thank you" as they left.  If you go into a McDonald's today, you are not surrounded by clean cut, pleasant faces.  Instead you walk into a world of Sling Blade Carl's asking if "you want to super size them french fried taters, uh hm?".

I personally am sick of it.  The problem is is that if you confront that person or talk to a manager, you are treated like an unreasonable asshole.  I may have found a backdoor to this problem though.  On the rare occasion I get great service, I praise them.  If I see the manager, I make a point to address the positive behavior.  I do not know if it does anything, but hopefully it will prevent a good employee from traveling down the dark side of mediocrity that is present day customer service.