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Don't Hate, Appreciate!!

 
Don't Hate, Appreciate!!

By Nicole Ferreira, MACINSIDERS


No, I said NO onions! Are you deaf or something? People at fast food restaurants tend to hear A LOT of complaints on a regular basis. I’m pretty sure most of you reading this have at some point in your life complained or seen someone complain at McDonalds. Having numerous years of experience in the food industry I have had my fair share of complaints with regards to food. Complain, complain, and complain, that’s all we seem to do. We’re too tired. We’re in school, we have jobs, we have extra curricular activities and bills to pay. We run faster than we can and faster than we ever should. Living in a fast paced society is highly stressful. We often take out our anger on family, friends or even random strangers. We’re the first to point fingers at those who make mistakes. Yet, we don’t always praise those who do things well.

Think back to the last time when you asked someone, how are you? Okay. Did you actually care or did you expect the yeah I’m good just a bit tired sort of answer. Or how about the walk by, that’s when you have a conversation with someone while walking by them. Are we so busy that we don’t have time to stop and genuinely ask someone how their day has been? I really doubt that it’s possible. If we are so busy that we don’t have time to do such a simple thing we really need to re-evaluate the importance of certain things.

Saying thank you really isn’t too hard. We have so many opportunities to show our appreciation to others yet never take full advantage of them. Thanksgiving is months away but the person’s action will likely be long forgotten by then. When a Tim Horton’s employee makes the perfect medium double double with a great big smile, tell them the next day how great the coffee was. You can even call head office and tell them that so and so is a great staff member. Head office will probably appreciate hearing a compliment as they’re so scarce in many food industries.

But let’s move away from food. Sometimes people just help you out. They do those random acts of kindness that you’ve never in a million years would expect them to do. Sometimes people really do amaze me with how incredibly nice they are. We see all of these bad things in the newspaper with stabbings and wars. The Toronto Star does this special once a month where people thank those who have helped them in someway. So for every 30 days of bad news we receive one day with both bad and good news. I’m not complaining but we can definitely do a lot better than that.

It is rather apparent that the list of showing appreciation is far more extensive than the following list. Nevertheless, here’s a list of random ways to show someone you care or appreciate their hard work:
- Write them a thank you card and mail it out (no e-cards, it shows a lack of effort)
- Sincerely ask how they’re day has been
- Smile!
- Tell people when they’ve done a great job
- Give them a reward
- Listen. Just sit and let them talk until they’re satisfied
- Spend time with them
- Respect them
- Help them up when they fall and stand with them when they’re tall
- Do something that they would love or have been asking you to do for ages
- Call them totally out of the blue just to say hi


Now, I’m pretty sure most of you have heard of a little something called Pay It Forward. If you haven’t, read the book or watch the movie. Essentially, the idea is to do a good deed for others instead of the person who helped you out. Sometimes you have no way of knowing who helped you out so it’s virtually impossible to thank them. Instead of spending all of your time trying to figure out who this person is you can use that time to help others in need. You don’t need to go to Ethiopia to help people. Sometimes those who need it most are in your own community and are often overlooked. It’s not always about food or money either. Sometimes people just need someone to help them shovel the driveway or to cut them some slack on a bad day. This is going to sound extremely cliché but bigger isn’t always better. Small things can also definitely make our day. On May 11th, I was walking home with 2 suitcases and a back pack in the pouring rain. A bus driver noticed that I was struggling to carry all of the things and soaking wet and told me to get on the bus. I replied that I had no money at all. He told me it didn’t matter. Some of you may be thinking, wow that’s your story, is that seriously all you’ve got? It may seem so insignificant. I would have made it home though it was quite the struggle. Yet, he saw I was in need of some assistance and actually stopped and helped me. I really appreciated it.

I have been inspired, affected, loved, and helped by so many people. But I’d like to thank Justin Sma for everything he has done for me. He’ll never truly know how much he has done. He also doesn’t check MacInsiders so he’ll probably never read this. But he has helped me in more ways than one. Everyone has at least one person who has positively affected their lives. Let them know you care, even if you do so indirectly. Pay it forward and spread the goodness around. Good things really can happen and you have the power to make that difference in someone’s life.

aya017, kimrose, Yashoda all say thanks to ferreinm for this post.
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Old 08-28-2008 at 07:07 AM   #2
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Just a little...reminder to go along with this...

THANK THE REPS THAT HELP YOU MOVE IN TO RES! None of us are paid, and it's exhausting work! Thank yous are greatly appreciated!!
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Old 08-28-2008 at 06:25 PM   #3
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