144. Respect Has No Title

I went to the Bagel Nosh recently to get a buncha bagels and lotsa lox for a family get-together.

Boy oh boy do I love the lox. If I were Dr. Seuss I’d write a book called Fox In Sox with Lox in Box and Bagel on Table with Mable.

I suppose that’s one reason why I’m not Dr. Seuss.

Anyhoo, it was a large order so I phoned it in. I was told the order would be ready in 30 minutes. Great.

Just to be safe, I gave them 40 minutes before I went to pick it up.

A Funny Thing Happened At The Bagel Nosh

“I’m here to pick up my order,” I said to the cashier at the Bagel Nosh. “The name is Jeff”

He looked through the take-out shelf behind him and couldn’t find my order. He looked through his notes and couldn’t find my order. He asked me if it could be under the name “Samantha” - which, by the way, sounds nothing like “Jeff”. Her order doesn’t even have lox.

He called over to his manager who proceeded to flip through his own special order pad and finally found my order written down.

Whew.

He called out to somebody about my order then told me to have a seat. “We’ll bring the order to you,” he said.

I sat.

After five minutes of waiting, I assumed they hadn’t actually put my order together yet.

After fifteen minutes of waiting, I still saw nobody putting together my order.

I was perturbed. I stood and and walked towards the manager, when I noticed a side room. In that room were a bunch of orders waiting to be picked up.

Right there amongst the orders was one with JEFF written in big, bold letters.

My order had been ready all along. Nobody at the Bagel Nosh even looked for it. Even worse, they forgot about me the moment they told me to have a seat.

I grabbed my bag of bagels, loaded up my lox, and stormed out.

A Deal Called Respect

There’s an unspoken deal we make with our colleagues and associates in the workforce.

The unspoken deal is that we will show up where and when we say we will.

If we schedule a meeting, it is mutually agreed that all confirmed parties will either attend the meeting or let others know they are unable to attend. That’s the deal.

You know what the name of the deal is?

It’s called “mutual respect”.

Respect Has No Title

I once worked at a company where some people would just no-show meetings. No advanced notice. No after meeting apology or reasoning. Just no-show.

There was no accountability from the boss and nobody cared.

Crazy, right?

I thought so too.

Have you ever scheduled a call with somebody and they never showed up?

I’m not talking about the ones where they send an apology five minutes late. I’m talking complete no-show with no communication or acknowledgment.

It’s happened to me a few times.

I’d wait on the line for 15 or 20 minutes. I’d drop them a text or email. Nothing. Maybe two or three days later I’d get a note from them asking if they could reschedule.

It frustrates the hell out of me.

The deal is pretty simple: respect my time and I will respect yours.

Which brings us back to the Bagel Nosh.

Respect Is Not About Title

Respect isn’t about personal wealth or age or family name. Respect isn’t about a title.

I don’t care if you’re the President of the United States or the janitor at Chick-Fil-A, we are all humans and deserve the same respect.

The Bagel Nosh told me that my order would be done in 30 minutes. I respected their time by not showing up in 15 and demanding my food.

By not having my order done on time, by not making the effort to even find my order, they did not respect my time. They did not adhere to their side of the bargain.

How To Gain Respect

Getting the respect of other people is not too challenging, but there are certain things you need to do.

Those things will be outlined in the next newsletter.

In the meantime, was there a time you felt your time was disrespected at work? Let me know.

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Quote

“R-E-S-P-E-C-T"

- Aretha Franklin

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