Give credit where it’s due – Day 43

I work for a large chain of bookstores, and lots of them have cafes. This summer, there had been a contest to see which store sold the most frappuccinos – a delish icy coffee concoction that seemed to be flying out of the store practically on its own during this hot, hot summer.

Well, like I said, practically on its own. The contest surely helped. The stores that sold the most frappuccinos were going to get prizes. Now this meant everybody in the store: cashiers, booksellers, receivers, maintenance, everyone. That’s over 150 employees where I work, and we would each get a $15 gift card to the store. So, we urged customers to stop by the café on hot days. We slurped plenty of them ourselves. And lo, we won.

But listen: though the rest of us did our part in suggesting to customers that it was a great day for a cold drink, it was the gang working in the café who certainly did the lion’s share of the selling. And there was one person in particular who I’m sure put sales over the top. She’s just a great saleseprson: made the product sound irresistible, always cheerful in the face of overheated, cranky adversity, forever patient. And she also treated every other employee who came to the café with the same grace and respect.  Seriously, this is a girl who could brighten up a day.

But then she left to continue her nursing studies, just days before the announcement that we had won the gift cards, thus becoming ineligible.

I figure I didn’t sell those frappuccinos: she did. I’ll bet she sold 75% of them. And now she’s a student – one who loves to read – without much money. So I went to the manager’s office, and asked for her address. She gets my card.

Give credit where it’s due.