In the article Brené Brown pleads with our humanity, “I see adults who don't even look at their waiters when they speak to them. I see parents who let their young children talk down to store clerks. I see people rage and scream at receptionists, then treat the bosses/doctors/bankers with the utmost respect…And, I see the insidious nature of race, class and privilege playing out in one of the most historically damaging ways possible — the server/served relationship. Everyone wants to know why customer service has gone to hell in a handbasket. I want to know why customer behavior has gone to hell in a handbasket. When we treat people as objects, we dehumanize them. We do something really terrible to their souls and to our own… Buber wrote, “When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them.”
Let’s commit to extra attentiveness to those who serve us in stores and restaurants, in our homes, schools and churches. Put the phone away and be there for each other and feel the electricity.