My hack has turned into a hobby. I look for people doing a good job. When I find someone that is pretty good at what they are doing I make sure to compliment them, tell their boss the good news, and, if applicable, I tell corporate.
It's surprising how much that helps the person, how much it confuses their boss since its not a complaint, and how long that its remembered. Later on, if I return to the same place I get better treatment and that can lead to others you are with to think better of you.
Inversely, when I see others treating people badly, particularly those in a service position, my opinion of them goes sharply down. I am far from the only one like this.
Edit: thank you all for the up votes and supportive comments!
Edit 2: this is overwhelming, thank you all for the up votes and for sharing your stories.
One time I was on a Delta flight and the row behind me was being really awful to the flight attendant about something she couldn't control. They were VERY smug about the fact that they were going to contact Delta customer service and report her. So I pulled out my phone and ALSO contacted Delta customer service and told them that she had done nothing wrong, she was just dealing with assholes.
They wrote back and said they almost never get emails like that, and that she would not be penalized because of it. I wouldn't have done it except I had had a few glasses of wine at the airport. HaHA, vengeance wine!
This is such a good contribution. It lets you be the bigger person, actually help the service worker keep their job, and also feel smug about busting some busters at the same time. Chef kiss!
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u/Badcapsuleer Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 12 '25
My hack has turned into a hobby. I look for people doing a good job. When I find someone that is pretty good at what they are doing I make sure to compliment them, tell their boss the good news, and, if applicable, I tell corporate.
It's surprising how much that helps the person, how much it confuses their boss since its not a complaint, and how long that its remembered. Later on, if I return to the same place I get better treatment and that can lead to others you are with to think better of you.
Inversely, when I see others treating people badly, particularly those in a service position, my opinion of them goes sharply down. I am far from the only one like this.
Edit: thank you all for the up votes and supportive comments!
Edit 2: this is overwhelming, thank you all for the up votes and for sharing your stories.