# Christmas challenge. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314 "2010-11-29T18:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/1 "2010-11-29T18:53:36Z")
I want you to send an email, letter or talk to a manager in support of the employee that is nice to you whenever you go to that store. Let us know when you have done this. They will appreciate the heads up to their bosses. What does this cost you? basically nothing. Make someone’s day that deserves it. It does matter when you do this, and they get the acknowledgment they earned by being above average. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/2 "2010-11-29T19:00:16Z")
I do this every single time I receive great customer service. Managers seem pleased to be called up front for a compliment. I generally email compliments as a follow up to phone conversation. I can’t imagine not doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/3 "2010-11-29T19:11:18Z")
I do this throughout the year, but many people only complain to management. I wish to inspire people to go the step extra step to bring management’s appreciation on the employees that go beyond it’s just a job. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/4 "2010-11-29T19:18:16Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I want you to send an email, letter or talk to a manager in support of the employee that is nice to you whenever you go to that store. Let us know when you have done this. They will appreciate the heads up to their bosses. What does this cost you? basically nothing. Make someone’s day that deserves it. It does matter when you do this, and they get the acknowledgment they earned by being above average. I had a paper route when I was a kid in the '80’s, and one of my customers did this. It was a pleasant surprise. I confess to never having done it myself, except once this summer when a cashier at Wendy’s did everything _perfectly._ His uniform was clean, his shirt tucked in, he spoke in a clear voice, smiled, etc., etc., and even ran my tray with sandwich/fries out to me while I was still at the soda fountain filling my drink cup. After leaving I went to the national Wendy’s website and left a comment, giving restaurant location, receipt #, and employee name, telling them that they needed to pass word on that this guy was doing a great job. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/5 "2010-11-29T19:43:42Z")
I love doing this, especially in places like the grocery store or gas station I use often. People should be rewarded for doing their jobs well, especially in jobs with few other perks. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/6 "2010-11-29T20:33:25Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I had a paper route when I was a kid in the '80’s, and one of my customers did this. It was a pleasant surprise. > > I confess to never having done it myself, except once this summer when a cashier at Wendy’s did everything _perfectly._ His uniform was clean, his shirt tucked in, he spoke in a clear voice, smiled, etc., etc., and even ran my tray with sandwich/fries out to me while I was still at the soda fountain filling my drink cup. After leaving I went to the national Wendy’s website and left a comment, giving restaurant location, receipt #, and employee name, telling them that they needed to pass word on that this guy was doing a great job. Tragically this recognition resulted in his promotion to assistant manager and eventually manager. In his youthful naiveté he thought that he was making good money and neglected to peruse a college education. The years wore on and he soon discovered that his wages were not exactly keeping pace with his expenses. He also found that he was unable to attract very many women as a Wendy’s manager so he resorted to constantly making low grade advances on the younger girls that worked for him. He earned the reputation as the creepy guy. Eventually he discovered that a few drinks in the evening would help smooth things out and make him forget the dreams that he had once had and the decent fellow he was. Then he would wake up in the middle of the night with panic attacks as he watched his youth slipping through his fingers and faced the prospect of being a middle aged fast food manager. A couple of shots in the middle of the night were just the thing to help him get back to sleep and to mute the sobbing of the idealistic youth that was still inside of him. From there it was just a short jump to the inevitable “eye opener” and before he knew it he was sneaking out behind the dumpsters to nip on a flask. He was, naturally, eventually caught and dismissed. Because he was now a round the clock drinker, unable to stop and unable to rise above the wreckage of his life he was eventually evicted from his apartment. He now spends his days begging for spare change and living from drink to drink. Eventually he will be a little too drunk on a night that is a little too cold and will be found frozen on a park bench, his hand still clutching a bottle of cheap gin. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/7 "2010-11-29T21:18:25Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Tragically this recognition resulted in his promotion to assistant manager and eventually manager. In his youthful naiveté he thought that he was making good money and neglected to peruse a college education. > > The years wore on and he soon discovered that his wages were not exactly keeping pace with his expenses. He also found that he was unable to attract very many women as a Wendy’s manager so he resorted to constantly making low grade advances on the younger girls that worked for him. He earned the reputation as the creepy guy. > > Eventually he discovered that a few drinks in the evening would help smooth things out and make him forget the dreams that he had once had and the decent fellow he was. Then he would wake up in the middle of the night with panic attacks as he watched his youth slipping through his fingers and faced the prospect of being a middle aged fast food manager. > > A couple of shots in the middle of the night were just the thing to help him get back to sleep and to mute the sobbing of the idealistic youth that was still inside of him. From there it was just a short jump to the inevitable “eye opener” and before he knew it he was sneaking out behind the dumpsters to nip on a flask. > > He was, naturally, eventually caught and dismissed. Because he was now a round the clock drinker, unable to stop and unable to rise above the wreckage of his life he was eventually evicted from his apartment. He now spends his days begging for spare change and living from drink to drink. Eventually he will be a little too drunk on a night that is a little too cold and will be found frozen on a park bench, his hand still clutching a bottle of cheap gin. All this as recognition for being a great person. Maybe you should start your own thread. Really you should. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/8 "2010-11-29T21:22:21Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > …and neglected to peruse a college education. Do you just get the college course catalog and skim it? ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/9 "2010-11-29T21:53:26Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > All this as recognition for being a great person. Maybe you should start your own thread. Really you should. I was just playing around. Sorry if I ruffled any feathers. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/10 "2010-11-30T01:46:55Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > I was just playing around. Sorry if I ruffled any feathers. I thought it was hilarious actually. I love talking to managers but I prefer to do it in person when the manager and employee are both there. I found in my own retail experience that we reaped the rewards more from immediate verbal compliments than from people filling out surveys or calling in. While you’re telling the management how great their employees are, don’t forget to tell the employee. Too often the managers never pass along the compliments. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christmas-challenge/562314/11 "2010-11-30T02:09:59Z")
About 11 years ago I was in a TGIF in Florida. The bar staff were great and I asked to speak to the manager. I told him his staff was great - I traveled a lot and they were better than most. He sat there like a lump and then said: Is that all? I think of him every single time I go to give a compliment.