Appreciation

It's been a pretty busy week or two, but I figured I'd post something short and sweet before going to bed. I've been living in Enola for three months now, and working at the new job for just over two.  In that short period of time, I've received more Customer Appreciation comments at my current job than I have since I worked for Verizon 7-8 years ago.  When I was working for my last job, which I will now refer to as "the big red barn", I had begun to think that politeness and kindness, and putting customers first was all for naught, since the only ones that got any kind of recognition for their work were the slackers and brown-nosers. I remember one in particular that really set mine and my friend Lena's hackles on end. This person, that I had sarcastically come to refer to as 'Miss Congeniality' because of her extremely poor customer service skills and reluctance to do her job, had received TWO awards in one week, and she really did nothing to deserve it, while we busted butt and even worked overtime when she would call off or just leave early for no reason.  Fast forward to new job. I have, as I have said, been there slightly over two months, have gotten to know quite a few of the customers, if not by name, by their regular orders, and have received praise from customers at least five times, and been mentioned on the monthly Customer Service Update a couple of times. What am I doing differently? Nothing, and I just don't get it. It just feels good to be appreciated for doing my job. Anyway, I just thought I'd get that off my chest. Have a good week everybody.