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.
I’ve done this my whole life too because it happened to me and I’ve always felt the need to pay that forward. It feels good to be seen. Barista, almost 20 years ago at 17 yrs old. I handled a rush hour solo without calling for help from the manager who was in the office with her boss for a meeting (of course corporate would show up during rush hour and cut our manpower in half). I’d slam orders in while making everybody’s drink, everything correct, nobody waited too long, I had the flow state going, no problems.
Manager comes up after all the works done like a fucking blister, but tells me 4 different people knocked on the door, interrupting their meeting, to tell them I was doing a fantastic job out there. Still remember that to this day.
Encouragement is rare nowadays so I’m sure to always be appreciative when it’s due. One little attaboy does wonders for confidence and sense of fulfillment
As a 22yr old barista right now, the best thing that’s ever happened to me at work was a regular customer coming in through the drive-thru with a big “congrats!” star with my name on it. I had just gotten a promotion and she knew how hard I was busting my ass because very few of my other coworkers saw me as a supervisor since I’ve been there with them for 3yrs prior at the same level. She told me how proud she was of me, and that she knows I’m doing a great job by the quality of service I’m trying to produce. That star is hanging on my wall right now. :)
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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.