I work in the service industry, although I am not dealing with the general public. I have clients, and I am always conscious of the fact that even though I work in the same office with someone, they are still my client. I act differently than if I was a coworker. If there is a problem, I always stay late to fix it even if it's not technically my responsibility and my clients notice that and appreciate it.

That's why I hate receiving lousy service from store or restaurant employees. It makes no sense to me. I don't know why the store doesn't watch for this behavior and try to correct it.

Today I was buying lunch - a burger and fries at Burger King. I ordered a large fries instead of the medium, because the burger I ordered is normally a bit small. When I got to the counter where you pick up your food, they had given me a medium fries. "Is that a large?" I say. And the woman behind the counter quietly dumps the medium fries out and gets me a large.

She was smileless and expressionless... Not a single syllable crossed her lips the entire time she interacted with me.

And all she needed to do was smile and say "Sorry about that." Or "Whoops! Good thing you noticed!" or something similar. She needed to ACKNOWLEDGE HER MISTAKE.

What's so hard about that? I didn't need a full formal apology. I didn't need her to prostrate herself in front of me. I didn't need a free meal or for her to commit Hara-kiri.

Some restaurants do it right. One time I was in McD's and I had to wait a little bit for my burger. The cashier threw in a free Apple Pie without me even asking for it - "Sorry it took so long. Here's a free Apple Pie." I was just standing there being patient - it didn't even feel like that long. But I remember that experience.

And as for Burger King not giving me what I ordered - and then not even acknowledging their mistake.... I will remember that too.