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As a frequent flyer, there is a level of customer service that is expected in the air. The courtesy of stewards, attentive to the needs of the passengers, can constitute what makes for a pleasant flight. Unfortunately, it has been my experience that effective customer service is becoming difficult to come by and it is of the utmost importance to restore its integrity.   On a recent flight to Rhode Island, I settled into my seat and noticed a “TV Not Working” sign glaring back at me. The first flight attendant who assisted me in solving the problem simply turned the TV off and back on. Though this was something I had already tried, my trust was with the professional. He insisted that I give it a few minutes and I obliged.  Twenty minutes later I sought out another flight attendant. She said she would try to reset the monitor from the main terminal and suggested I allow for some wait time. Ideally, this attendant would have followed up with me, but instead, I found myself seeking assistance once again.  It was a half-hour after that when I decided to press the flight attendant call button to get their attention for a third time. Surprisingly, no one answered my call. One can imagine how problematic this would have been if I were experiencing a medical emergency. I found myself questioning if this is how customer service representatives are initially taught to interact with customers, or if this type of disregard is developed over time.   Thanks to the readiness of phone cameras and easy access to social media postings, news channels have no problem finding material regarding passenger related incidents and mid-air conflicts among travelers and crew.  Perhaps one way to solve the problem is to take a step back and observe how the customer is being treated by the professional.  I am in no way excusing ill behavior, there are certainly times when a customer irrationally lashes out on an employee, but what exactly causes a customer to get to this point?  Does it have anything to do with the way a customer is being treated?  Some may blame the poor professionalism of various customer service representatives on recent COVID safety measures. Personally, I have noticed a major decline in customer service since before the 2020 Pandemic. Maybe this global crisis was the final blow to a once positive and efficient line of work.  The moral of this article is neither about the ill-working tv monitor, nor is it specifically about the airline business.  It is about our responsibility to stand up for what we deserve as customers, and to take pride in the treatment of the consumer as business leaders.  Effective customer service peered with a positive experience is a sure way to gain a favorable reputation for any business.  

To Tip or Not to Tip? Tipping: A topic that has continually sparked controversy for a length of time. Tipping has newly become a discussion carrying greater sensitivity with it´s consistent presence just about anywhere you go. You might find yourself at the airport or local bakery purchasing a pre-made item faced with an Ipad asking you to tip 20 percent at the minimum. There was a time when a 20 percent tip was considered generous to now be bare minimum for a service that was never received. Tipping has been referred to as a gratuity, being a way to express gratitude for a product or service. It is often a conflicting feeling when you are presented with the option to tip knowing there was no extra service worthy of a tip. Social pressure is the one contributing factor tempting you to press anything besides the ¨no tip¨ option. But when you tip that cashier 20 percent for no good reason, you are less likely to tip a generous amount to those who truly need it. The hourly rate given to waiters and waitresses stays at a mere two dollars and thirteen cents. Oftentimes, people working jobs solely reliant on tips do not get their full tip either. To ¨tip out¨ is giving back a portion of your earned tips to those working with and around you at the establishment. People working fast food jobs allowing them to stand at a cashier and earn four times the hourly rate of workers providing services should not be tipped the hard-earned cash that would have otherwise gone to those who not only need but deserve that pay. Tipping serves an important purpose in keeping restaurants and other service-based establishments up and running. These same businesses are vital in giving back to the community through supporting the success of related industries like real estate. The main reason tipping is seen to be a problem in current times ties back to struggles faced in the pandemic. The pandemic resulted in considerable financial losses for businesses, and generating a solution to make up for those losses became the consumer’s responsibility. Suddenly, the option to tip has been available to customers everywhere, even in corporations having already produced billions such as Starbucks and McDonalds. Inflated prices have already reached outrageous levels, the tipping problem is on its way there and at a frightening pace. Next time you are faced with a touchscreen prompting you to tip and the question ¨What am I tipping for? ¨ occurs to you, surely click ¨No Tip¨ without shame..