When you receive poor service, or see something that bothers you, do you say anything? If not, you are in good company; most people don't.
The other day a friend shared this experience in a posting on Facebook. As he was waiting for his beverage at a coffee shop, he noticed the barista was wiping any spillage off the cups with his finger and then licking it ... and he was not washing his hands between drinks!
I don't know about you, but I would definitely find my voice in a situation like this one. There is no need to be rude, loud or cause a scene, but once you have the offender's attention, state what the problem is and then tell him/her what you would like done to fix it. Be polite, be courteous; the person you are addressing is in the wrong, so don't add fuel to the fire by being "wrong" in your behavior.
Not long ago I stood at the deli counter of my local grocery store, watching as the lone clerk finished preparing chicken for the rotisserie grill. As she walked into the back room, something made me step to the left a few feet so I could continue watching her. She quickly rinsed her hands under a stream of water, grabbed some paper towels and came up to the counter to assist me. Now, I do have to admit that I have issues with raw chicken anyway but the fact that she had only rinsed her hands was just gross!
So, after greeting each other, when she asked what could she could help me with, I said "May I ask you to wash your hands with soap and water first? I saw you handling the raw chicken and then you just rinsed them under the water before you came to help me. This makes me uncomfortable." She looked at me for a moment, clearly taken aback and not necessarily happy with me, but she went and washed her hands properly (yes, I watched.) We completed our transaction as normal and I made sure to smile and say thank you before I left.
People get busy, they forget, they don't know or recognize they are doing something wrong, and sometimes, they don't care. Customer service is a real problem in our society today but it won't change unless we say something. You are spending your hard-earned money and you have the right to ask that things be done to your satisfaction.
