Discovering The Undermined Gem #1: A Dedicated Wholehearted Cashier...

I know I already have some ongoing series, such as my:

Happynerdycon Interesting and Fun Facts,
A Tutor's Tale and
Fruits and Values Series (which is ending in one more episode).

Not forget to mention, my regular write-ups for contest and random musings. I really hope I can manage all of these and post consistently in each series. These are some things I notice I like to take notice in my life. Hopefully you too enjoy following me in all of the above, or you may selectively pick those which interest you to read. However, today I would like to introduce to you a new series that my heart feels led to start.

Introducing Discovering The Undermined Gems

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Here's introducing my new series: Discovering The Undermined Gem, inspired by a worker at a fast food chain I patronize almost every Saturday for breakfast and mind realignment or writing. This series is purposed to highlight some gems and let them shine! I would love to highlight some dedicated workers in the line of service or any field which may not receive their due appreciation as well as recognition. As this series goes on, I am thinking of ways to value them, perhaps making them a card to show appreciation or monetary terms if I am able to. Join me in upvoting my post if you feel prompted to so I can spread this act all around to "reward" them more in the way of TIPPING.

The philosophy behind this act is driven by:

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Whatever we are doing, do it with all of our heart and not half-spiritedly.

Which is adapted from a Bible verse I'm constantly learning from:

Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others. For we know that we will receive a reward, an inheritance from the Lord, as we serve the Lord Yahweh, the Anointed One! Colossians 3:23-24 (The Passion Translation)

I will be writing with their real names so they can be recognized for their dedication, to which I have talked to them and gotten their permission to feature them.

So much for the introduction of this series, here is my tribute to the first person in this series: Farish.

Who is Farish?

This is Farish, a McDonald's worker in the line of service. He is usually dutied at the front cashier to take customers' orders. Almost everytime I patronize this outlet, I see him at the front line service. What is it that makes him outstanding to me? He greets his customers politely and happily. He makes me feel very welcome and valued. Farish being a Malay, is fluent in both English and Malay, which is sometimes rare for a McDonald's worker at where I am (I'm not here to pinpoint the weakness of anything but only to highlight the strengths I discovered). He repeats our orders nicely and he works very efficiently.

Noticed that I have been using present tense? That is because his attitude is very consistent and is always the same.

Farish is not just a good cashier, he is a very observant worker. There was once he was placed at the assembling order counter, I saw how he took notice of me who was trying to explain that I wanted a Happy Meal but the cashier keyed in a regular meal. He came over to sort it out with the cashier and me promptly, called their branch manager over to authorize the change and keyed in a new order, while I saw his colleague panicked.

Yesterday, there was a backlog at the collection counter. He stepped it and again things got solved.

Another incident I observed as I was standing around waiting for my order was, he was actually at the far right cashier, taking orders. When there was no customers ordering, he quickly came over to the collection counter because there was an elder man standing at the collection counter, waiting for a staff to be available whom he could speak to, maybe to clarify on his orders. Farish came over real quick and attended to him, while the other staff were busy with their own station and the man was left a bit ignored. Farish changed this situation entirely.

I ordered porridge for a happy meal and the wait was honestly longer. Even those who were after me were getting their orders. I wasn't bothered (because I was observing him), but this, he noticed and he came to ask if I'm waiting for my porridge. He went to the station to fetch it and I got it almost immediately from him.

What's the gem shining from Farish?

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I like his attitude of being very positive and speaking with energy. I know in a service line, it is very tiring and it can be non stop hustle and bustle. However, he always sounds like he has just clocked in for work and he anticipates a great day. This actually shines out in his work and how he carries his duties out. He is generous with his "thank you"s and "I'm sorry you had to wait" though I wasn't bothered about the waiting. Little that he knows, he actually changed atmospheres and feelings of his customers as well as his working environment.

I do not think as customers, we can walk around wearing the entitlement attitude, thinking that "Customers is always right." I have high regard and do not believe in looking down or trashing on these staff in service. Their hourly pay may not be much but yet they still do their work wholeheartedly like Farish. I feel they are very undervalued and I'm trying to do something within my might. I went over to Farish and complimented him, he gave me his big friendly smile. I asked if I can feature him in my blog and he said yes. So I took the photo of him, the first photo as I started to introduce him in this post.