I was prepared. I made an appointment, had my confirmation paper and was ready to go. I figured the entire process would take about 30 minutes. To what am I referring? Getting my licensed renewed at the DMV. Boy was I mistaken. Here’s my story.
My appointment time was 8:50am, so I arrived at 8:35am. There was a HUGE line outside but I wasn’t worried because I had an appointment. So, I proudly walked past all the people in line to find many, many more people sitting throughout the building staring at the monitors displaying the numbers. I looked around for the “Appointment” line but couldn’t find anything so I asked a worker where I should go. She told me to get to the back of the line with everyone else. “But I have an appointment”, I exclaimed. She said it didn’t matter and that everyone had to stand in the line. Needless to say, I was not very pleased about this predicament. Why have an appointment if we still have to wait in line. Fortunately, the woman in front of me, named Joy, and the man behind me, named Tom, were extremely pleasant and fun. Their company made the 50 minutes of standing in line ALMOST bearable. When I finally made it to the counter, I said “I have an appointment” and I showed him my papers. The man behind the counter said “I’m sorry you had to wait in line, it’s not my fault!” Gosh, he started off so well with that empathetic statement then blew it by showing his disgust. Unfortunately for me, he couldn’t find my name on the list and he wouldn’t accept my confirmation paper so he gave me a number that put me at the back of the line AND he was rude while doing so.
I have to admit that I was lacking ZAMitude at this time. I just couldn’t understand the purpose of making an appointment if you still have to wait in the long line. As I look at the workers, I can’t help notice how unhappy they all looked. I wonder what it would be like to work there? My guess is that it’s not a very pleasant place. They looked unhappy. The people waiting looked unhappy. They could definitely use ZAMitude.
As the time ticked on, I began to get anxious because I had to leave no later than 11:30am and it was 11:00 and my number had not been called yet. I had plenty of time to think about how I should behave when I finally got called. I could be mad and yell at the person OR I could show ZAMitude and kill them with kindness. Luckily I chose the latter. When my number was finally called I happily pranced to the appropriate window. I was smiling and a tad goofy. The employee was neither positive nor negative. She appeared to be tired of doing her job. She sent me to another window. I decided I would try a different approach. This employee was wearing a shirt that had shiny beads around the neckline. So after she called me to the window by saying “Next” and making no eye contact, I simply said “I love your blouse. It is really pretty.” She paused, looked up at me and smiled while telling me where she bought it. Her attitude shifted 180 degrees in a matter of seconds.
You can’t change someone else’s behavior, but by demonstrating ZAMitude we can spread it one person at a time. Pretty cool, huh?
Z-Tip: When faced with a grumpy employee, try complimenting them on something – clothes, hair, nails. You’ll be surprised with the result! Now that’s ZAMitude!