Posts Tagged ‘starbucks’
This week as I was running errands around town, I stopped by a local Starbucks to pick up a few gift cards for a Random Act of Kindness I planned to do later this week. There were two baristas in the shop, Angie and Hunter, and both chatted pleasantly with me while I made my purchases. (For those of you dedicated readers, you might remember Hunter from my 41st birthday RAK where in the process of giving a RAK to a stranger, he went and RAK’d me back! For those who missed the story, click here and here.)
As I was leaving the store, a small pamphlet caught my eye titled, “Share your thoughts with us.” Now I’m sure you’ve seen similar comment cards in businesses you frequent, but for whatever reason, it occurred to me that I rarely take the time to share my thoughts with a business. Good experience or bad, I tend to continue about my way without a second thought.
Today was different. 🙂 What better way to show my appreciation for great customer service than letting their boss know? So I took the pamphlet and wrote an email to the District Manager. I also left a few extra dollars in their tip jar, too!
Starbucks Thank You Email
My next stop was OfficeMax and I had to laugh at the sign outside their door: “Now Hiring. Friendly. Happy. People.” It made me chuckle at the placement of the periods, emphasizing each word individually. My visit there was quick, I only had one item to buy, and as I made my way to the checkout, there was no one in sight. Obviously there’s not a mad rush of people buying office supplies at 4:30 in the afternoon, lol. I walked towards Customer Service and the lady working there caught my eye.
“Do you need to checkout?” she asked with a smile. I said I did and she immediately stopped what she was doing to walk towards me. “I can take you on this register over here.” She continued to chat pleasantly as she rang up my purchase, then when the receipt printed, she circled the back and wrote her name. “Here’s a survey you can complete if you like to let us know how we’re doing.”
A survey to complete. How many times have I heard THAT phrase? Seems like everywhere you go, someone wants information from you. How do you like this, how do you like that. If I was a pessimistic person, I might have crumpled the receipt in my pocket, refusing to share any information at all. But thankfully, I’m a Pollyanna. 🙂 Despite never having completed a survey before, I took the time to complete it today. I was thrilled to have an open text box where I could compliment Ms. Rae on her great customer service, too!
OfficeMax Survey
Was this random act of kindness difficult to complete? Nah, not a bit. Did it cost any money? None at all! (Excluding the money I already spent on my purchases, lol.) Did it take time? Yes, but less than five minutes. I spend more time trying to shut down my computer and place it in my laptop bag than I did completing both of these RAKs. So in that regards, it really didn’t take much time at all!
I hope you will look around you as you complete your errands this week/weekend and take the time to say “thanks” to those in the retail industry who work tirelessly to make our transactions a pleasant experience. It may not seem like a big deal to many, but those employees have been smiling ALL day long… it’s the least we can do to give them a reason to keep on smiling!
Be blessed my friends and pay it forward!
Well, once again I found myself at Starbucks performing another RAK. (I’m sure you are convinced I have a coffee addiction by how many of my posts reference Starbucks, lol.) I met up with a friend during our once-every-four-years coffee break (I am not kidding. It really has been four years since we’ve seen each other!) While standing in line, I remembered that Starbucks was having a buy one, get one free special. Yay! What an easy way to bless someone else!
While my friend was drinking regular coffee (not one of the frou-frou drinks shown on the advertised special), I decided to bless the gal standing in line behind us. “Excuse me,” I began, “I’m getting one of those drinks up there. It’s buy one, get one free. Would you like my free one?” She smiled back in surprise at my offer. “Are you sure? That’s really sweet of you!” I returned the smile saying, “No big deal! Just let them know what you want!”
I didn’t get a photo of her, and I didn’t have any RAK cards with me, so she may never see this post. But it was fun to bless a stranger just the same!
The next time you have a buy one, get one free offer, think about blessing someone else with your freebie!
Be inspired and pay it forward! 🙂
I have some of the best coworkers a person could ask for. There are nine of us on a small, select team and we work together with such efficiency you would swear there were 30 of us!
This morning as we arrived for our weekly team meeting, one of my coworkers walked through the door waving a small, brown, rectangular item that looked like a piece of decorated cardboard. “I was trying to figure out who to give this to, and I decided that this should be for YOU!”, she declared, handing the brown item to the coworker beside me. “What? What is this for?” I peeked across the table and saw it was a Starbucks gift card! How sweet!
My coworker then proceeded to hand it to me saying, “Here, you take it. You can use it for your Random Acts of Kindness project.” No, no, no! I pushed the card back to her. “Oh no! I am not going to take that! It’s YOUR gift! Enjoy it!” We all started laughing at this point, and I begged them to allow me to take their picture for a blog post.
“No! I don’t want my picture taken! I’m a mess!” was the immediate response, but I convinced them to smile for the camera just the same.
Then I went into my iPhone apps and blurred out their faces so no one would ever know who they were.
The blurred photo alone sent us in another fit of giggles as we laughed at the absurdity of it all.
What a fun way to start my workday – having a front row seat to a random act of kindness. I can’t think of a better way to be inspired!
(Did I mention how much I love my team? They are the BEST!). 🙂
- In: #26acts
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As a continuation of the previous post, I was at Starbucks getting a few moments of peace from a crazy hectic day (which just happened to also be my 41st birthday). I used my registered Starbucks gift card to receive a free drink of my choice (God bless the person who decided salt, caramel, and coffee would make a good drink combination – pure heaven for me!) After ordering my drink, I handed the barista a sealed envelope which contained a note and a $5 bill to allow a complete stranger to enjoy a free tall pumpkin spice latte on me in celebration of my birthday and to honor the memory of Alyssa O’Neill.
As the barista passed my drink across the counter, I gathered my purse then looked up to see him reaching into the pastry display case and placing something in a to-go bag. As I started to walk away, he handed the bag to me stating simply, “Your birthday cake! Enjoy!”
WHAT?!?! Did I just get RAK’d by a barista?! No way!! All I could do was laugh at the joyous surprise by such a sweet, kind gesture. “Really? For me?” He grinned from ear to ear (such an infectious smile!) as the other barista chimed in from the other end of the counter with “Happy Birthday!” greetings.
It was a priceless moment that literally was the icing on my cake.
I frantically dug through my purse trying to find my RAK business cards as I knew this was worthy of one of my #26acts. Did it matter that it was a RAK received instead of given? Absolutely not! A RAK is a RAK no matter the type! 🙂
So I found a card I was saving for Avielle Richman, age 6, and explained to the barista that he actually completed my #23 random act of kindness. I had seen a video clip showing Avielle’s parents talking about their daughter’s infectious smile and knew this RAK belonged to him because his smile matched hers. I’m hoping that he will visit this website and see that he is part of an amazing journey to remember those sweet children lost from Sandy Hook Elementary. Here is the barista with my business card:
What joy! Such a simple act of kindness, yet so powerful. So important. So meaningful. A true blessing indeed.
It wasn’t until I was back in my car that I opened my to-go bag and saw what delicacy he had chosen for me to enjoy. A beautiful pink cake pop with tiny white sprinkles, molded firmly to a solid white stick made to look like a delicate lollipop. I almost cried at the pureness of the moment. My birthday cake indeed.
Thanks to Starbucks for offering free birthday coffees to pay it forward with kindness and for hiring such kind-hearted baristas who take opportunities to make a difference in someone else’s life. My day may have started off as a hot mess, but it ended in peace and joy.
Be blessed my friends! Thank you for sharing in my first complete year of blessing others with deliberate acts of kindness!
It’s hard to believe that a full year has passed since I began this journey of blessing others with kindness and publicly documenting my journey through words and pictures. What a year it has been! WOW! I am constantly amazed and humbled by the sheer power of kindness. It makes people smile. Laugh. Blush. Cry. Such an endless array of emotion wrapped up with a sparkling bow of joy. Simply indescribable!
Today was a CRAZY busy day for me. My family and I had returned from a week long vacation (remind me to post a RAK from that trip tomorrow night when I’m more coherent, lol) then were catapulted into the start of a work week surrounded by mounds of dirty laundry, sour milk, and a basil plant that was parched by a week of sunlight with no water. My 41st birthday began with the morning hustle of returning to the daily grind of getting dressed for work and kids ready for school. Of COURSE today would be picture day for my favorite teenager, so an additional 15 minutes was built into my schedule to style her hair in a waterfall braid with wand-shaped spiral curls worthy of any fashion magazine at the checkout stand.
Because that’s what moms do.
I was greeted at work with more than 300 emails demanding attention, a list that would be whittled down little by little like a sculptor carving a masterpiece from a block of ice. And that was in between teaching the lessons I had scheduled throughout the day. The evening was just as busy. Pick kids up from daycare. Make middle child a sandwich while he worked on homework and got dressed for soccer practice. Fill his water canteen and send him to soccer practice with dad while concurrently making dinner for the other two children left home with me. Serve dinner. Clear the table. Wash dishes. Take oldest child to dance class. Welcome to my Monday night routine.
Oh wait – was today my BIRTHDAY?!?
Yes folks, my life is crazy busy. Some might even take the leap to say, “Girl, you are insane!” But you know what? Even among the nonstop hustle and bustle of my world, I can still find time to bless someone else. Which is exactly what I did tonight!
Did you know that you can register a Starbucks gift card on their website then they will bless you with a free coffee of your choice on your birthday? True! I have a gift card that I registered who knows how many years ago that brings me joy each year as I delight in the warm aroma of a free gourmet coffee. I could almost taste the Salted Caramel Mocha melting on my tongue as I dropped my daughter off at dance class and headed to my nearest Starbucks for a late night moment of sanity.
I wanted to celebrate my birthday by blessing someone else, and with God’s perfect timing, I had a dear friend send me this article describing Alyssa O’Neill and the RAKs her parents performed in her memory. Perfect! I wrote out a note on pretty stationery, added a $5 bill and included both in a sealed envelope to pass along to the Starbucks barista.
As I claimed my free birthday drink and passed along my envelope to the kind barista, I had a surge of joy knowing SOMEONE would be the lucky recipient of my “pay it forward in memory of Alyssa O’Neill” gift. This was one birthday present I couldn’t wait to give away!
Make sure to read my next post to see what happened next… I ended up getting RAK’d by the barista! What a fun way to end my crazy birthday!
Random Act of Kindness #35
Posted on: December 3, 2012
One of the favorite parts of my job as an instructional technologist is presenting at conferences. I love sharing my enthusiasm with others! Today I presented a session on Edmodo (a social networking platform for administrators, teachers, and students) at the annual Virginia Society for Technology in Education conference. The session was packed, standing room only, and the hour flew by.
After presenting, I was allowed to return to participant mode. Since this conference is one of the only conferences my teammates and I attend to receive our own professional development, I was excited to learn new things from other educators and technologists. I made it into the next room and got settled just in time for the presentation to begin.
Not even five minutes into the session, I could tell there would be issues. Apparently this particular room was the infamous black hole for wireless Internet and it seemed everyone was having difficulty accessing the resources due to this limitation. Most people handle this setback in stride (even if slightly irritated on the inside), but in this particular session there was one gal whose frustration had reached a boiling point. You could see her from a distance, huffing and puffing, making not-so-quiet comments under her breath… and with each passing minute her anger was rising to a crescendo.
While I knew there was absolutely nothing I could do about the wireless issue, I still felt obligated to do something (anything!). The other participants sitting near her were visibly disturbed by her erratic outbursts and I did not want the actions of this one gal to negatively impact those nearby (or the session presenter!)
There was an empty chair beside the disgruntled lady, so I took it upon myself to sit there and become her very own sounding board. I quietly packed up my belongings and moved to the seat beside her. “Is there anything I can help you with?” I whispered as quietly as I could so as not to disturb those around me. Well, that intro question was all she needed to rant and rave about allllllll the issues in her life. Keeping our voices to a minimum, I listened to her problems, then nodded my head consolingly as she described her frustrations. By the time this session was over, the lady was smiling as she thanked me for listening. She even apologized for being so irritated at the beginning. Realizing I had just sacrificed an entire hour of my own learning time, I just laughed and replied, “We’ve all been there. It’s OK.”
I really think she just wanted to be heard. Because having someone take the time to listen validates your world. 🙂
After the conference, I decided to surprise my best friend (whom I hadn’t seen in 5 months!). I took her out for a quick dinner at a local Chinese restaurant and a Starbucks for dessert, all the while listening to her frustrations of the day. By the end of our visit, she was all smiles, too, as she thanked me for being a friend to listen to her struggles.
It was then that I opened my fortune cookie from the dinner.
Wow! What a fitting fortune! It made me smile knowing that my little acts of kindness today may not have been sweeping grand gestures, but were still important because they came from the heart.
I hope you will find a way to bless someone today, even if it is only to stop and lend a listening ear. We are all in this together, so the more we take time to look after one another, the happier a place it will be!
Be blessed my friends!
Woo-Hoo! Welcome to the wonderful world of BLACK FRIDAY! To say that I look forward to this one crazy shopping day of the year is a complete understatement. I cannot WAIT for Black Friday to arrive! I love so many things about this day: The excitement! The energy! The reduced prices! It’s the one day of the year where I am guaranteed to be child-free, can shop for 10 hours straight, spend money without worry, all the while getting the majority of the items on my Christmas list marked off. For me, Black Friday is the ultimate day of productivity.
Now I know several friends of mine will read this and roll their eyes. “Black Friday shopping? Who in their right mind would do THAT?!?” And… they’re right. It takes a really special shopper to tackle the crowds on Black Friday. But what greater opportunity is there to show kindness to others?
This year I was extra excited about Black Friday, because I was already plotting ways I could deliberately bless others on such a maddening day. The first thing I did was stop by a Starbucks. After all, shopping in and out of stores where the temperature was a frigid 29 degrees outside… one might need a little pick-me-up to make the adventure more bearable!
As I stood in line to get my tall salted caramel mocha, my gaze wandered across the yummy muffins and pastries. I immediately thought of my family members who were stuck working retail jobs on Black Friday. What types of customers would they encounter today? Would their day end in satisfaction or exasperation? I decided that a surprise treat might be just the thing to put a smile on their faces.
My first stop was JCPenney’s to surprise my cousin, Becky. It took me about 20 minutes just to find her in the sea of customers waiting in the checkout line. That’s her on the far right side – you can barely see her from the back of the line!
I snuck around the corner and slipped her Starbucks treat right as she was finishing a sale. (I would have brought her a drink, too, but I wasn’t sure if she was allowed to have one while working on the floor!)
My next stop was on the other side of town to surprise my sister, a shift supervisor at CVS. Thankfully there are Starbucks coffee shops all over the place, so I was able to grab a hot drink and a muffin to bring a smile to her day.
(Yes, she is tired. She had to be at work at 2am, following our family Thanksgiving dinner the night before. This picture was taken around 9am, almost at the end of her shift. She definitely deserved a pick-me-up!)
Back in the car, I was excited to start shopping. But first I had to get to the stores! Have you driven around on a Black Friday? Just the driving alone might send you fleeing back to the safety of your home. But I was determined to show kindness, even in my car. I smiled and waved at complete strangers, patiently allowing them to merge in front of me as they went about their way.
Almost to the local mall, I thought about families who weren’t as blessed as me to have the ability to shop on Black Friday. So many families are struggling this time of year, especially with unforseen layoffs and other monetary challenges. While adults can understand these constraints, it can be really hard on the children. I decided to make my next Random Act of Kindness focused on kids.
Entering the parking lot of a Dollar Tree, I was almost giddy with my plans. Just imagine if you were a child, entering this store with your mom, dad, or grandparent, and this is what you discovered:
Yes! I went into this store and hid three one dollar bills among different toys, all at a child’s eye level. SO MUCH FUN! I really wanted to wait and see a child discover the money, but there wasn’t a single child in the store. However, as I was headed to my car, I saw a mom with three (THREE!) children walk into the store. It was a divine setup!
I knew without a doubt that my being at that store, with that specific Random Act of Kindness, was nothing short of God showing his love to his children. It literally gave me chill bumps!
As my day progressed, I finally found myself at Kohl’s, my last store of the day. The checkout line looped down one side and around another. Unknowingly, the line I found myself waiting in led to Customer Service, not the actual checkout counter. Oh no! I had already waited in line for 20 minutes – did I have enough energy to get out of this line and start all over in the “real” checkout line? As I was pondering this dilemma, I overheard several other ladies in an animated discussion about this particular line. “Yes, it’s for Customer Service, but they are also doing regular purchases, too.” “Why on EARTH would they do that?” “I think all the lines are long so it doesn’t really matter.” “Well, it matters to me. All I have is one item to return. I wish people would just go to the regular checkout and leave this one for Customer Service.”
Yeahhhhhh… here I am, standing right in the mix of these ladies with boots, sweaters, jewelry, wrapping paper… I had so many items to purchase I was literally sliding the shoebox with my foot along the ground because I couldn’t possibly carry another item with my hands. Since I knew it would be near impossible for me to gather my items and try to start over in another line, I made a conscious decision to do something nice to the woman behind me; the woman who only had one thing left to return. I think you can tell by this photo who was enjoying this day more…
When you stand in line for over an hour just to spend money on gifts for other people… well, you have lots of time to think, listen, and learn. I’ve discovered that patience (not necessarily a strength of mine), is an essential skill for withstanding the trials of Black Friday shopping. Oh, how many times I could have lost my patience!! But what would have been the end result? Would it have gotten me closer to the finish line (a.k.a. Customer Service)? Nope. So why lose patience over something I have aboslutely NO CONTROL over? I chose to go shopping today. I chose to shop at the store with the really good sale prices and free coupons. Standing in line was simply part of the process. So why complain about it when I was here BY CHOICE?
Which brings me to my next act of kindness. Remember me mentioning doing something nice for the lady behind me? The gal who was not too happy about all the regular shoppers being in the Customer Service line when she only had one thing to return? Well, I did the only thing I could think to do to make her smile: when it was my turn at the checkout counter, I let her go before me. Because that’s what kindness is all about. 🙂
The gal behind her was now behind me. I remembered her telling a story about her grandson scratching off all the discount scratch-off coupons (thus making them invalid to use). As she was called to the register beside me to purchase her items, I quietly slid my 15% off coupon to her with my business card and a smile. She was touched by my generosity, promised to pay it forward, and agreed to take a picture for the blog. Can you see our joy for finally crossing the finish line?
But this Black Friday Random Act of Kindness BLOWOUT would not have been possible were it not for my husband and children left behind at home. Yes, this was my day to do as I pleased. But it wouldn’t be right to have this much fun and not include them. So as I left my last store, I made yet another stop at Starbucks and picked up some coffee for me and my husband and some sweet treats for the kids. It was a small gesture to say “Thanks!”, but one I knew would make them smile.
So, as you are reading stories of how horrible Black Friday is, and how mean people can be, just remember there are a FEW people out there who are truly trying to make a difference in the midst of it all. I really do love Black Friday in all its chaos and confusion. Where else can complete strangers find commonality in their craziness?
Be blessed my friends! May your holiday season be filled with peace, joy, and love wherever your travels take you!
Random Act of Kindness #25
Posted on: October 27, 2012
Last night, my team and I went out to dinner before presenting an an out-of-state conference. After driving for over five hours, we were starving!
We had a very large group joining us (22 people in all!) so we had low expectations for efficient service. (When was the last time you went out to dinner with 22 people wanting to be seated together?)
I am happy to report that our dining experience was amazing! Our waitress, Ashley, was phenomenal. She cheerfully explained the specials and didn’t bat an eye when we sheepishly changed our orders. Drinks were refilled without asking and appetizers and meals were served hot and in a timely manner. Not a single error was made in our orders! It was a miracle!
We chatted with her towards the end of our meal and complimented her on the delightful service and accuracy in the orders. “Well, when I give the cooks your order, I only write up six orders on a page. This makes it easier for them and fewer mistakes are made.”
Because of Ashley’s impeccable service to all the conference presenters, we were able to enjoy our time together networking instead of being frustrated or inconvenienced. I really wanted to do something for our waitress to show my appreciation for a job well done, so I reached into my bag, jotted a personal note on the back of my business card and added it to a $5 Starbucks gift card.
I handed the card to Ashley as we departed from the restaurant, thanking her for all her work. I wished I had more gift cards, because I would have loved to have treated HER to a dinner she could enjoy!
The next time you are eating out, take a moment to not only enjoy your meal, but thank your waiter or waitress. While serving you is part of their job, to know their service is appreciated validates all they do!
Random Act of Kindness #20
Posted on: October 6, 2012
Coffee. Ahhh… the quintessential early morning pick-me-up to get your day going. For some, coffee is a must-have; for others, it’s a treat. I think I’m somewhere in the middle. I can go without coffee, but offer me a Starbucks and I will never refuse!
Knowing I would embark on my flight home at 8:00 AM and not disembark until 5:00 PM, a Starbucks salted caramel coffee sounded like a perfect way to start my travels. As one of my birthday gifts, my forever friend Lisa had sent me a $5 Starbucks card with pay-it-forward instructions on the front of the card.
As I approached the cashier, I turned to the woman behind me and gave her the $5 gift card and my business card. “Be blessed! Enjoy a treat on me!” The cashier, a lively guy named Sean, overheard our conversation and jumped right in. “That was so nice! What a special thing to do!” He then told me about other customers who had done similar acts of kindness by purchasing drinks for complete strangers.
With coffees in hand, I had another patron snap a photo of this random act of kindness. Just in time to board our planes!
Be blessed my friends! And the next time you swing by a Starbucks, look around and see if there’s someone who you can bless. You might be surprised at how good it feels to buy two coffees instead of one! 🙂
celebrate kindness 