I don’t want to be one of those people who write emails to organisations. You get those people who will write letters all day long just for the sake of it.

You get those who sit on complaint and compliment forums, like Hello Peter, to have their say.

I don’t want to be one of them.

I will however complain about something if it is absolutely necessary. Poor service and rudeness is just disrespectful.

I will complain in the right way. I believe there is a protocol.

It can actually help an organisation/company to be better if they know there are problems – again, it’s the way in which it’s done that can be helpful or disregarded.

Throwing your toys and flying off the handle? No, even if it’s tempting.

Screaming and shouting to be heard and get your point across? No, even when your blood is boiling.

Immediately getting onto Twitter or Facebook and unleashing a rant? No. I see this as cyber bullying sometimes and a cry for attention.

I will complain to a manager first and only then if nothing is done and the poor service and rudeness continues, only then I feel it is right to let my social media followers know, to keep them informed/warned and protected so they don’t have to be annoyed with bad service like I was.

I also believe that we should compliment. Boy, people are quick to complain and moan. It’s funny how people aren’t as quick to say “Well done! That was awesome!”

The thing is, compliments are remembered, appreciated and they incentivise us to keep it up.

I flew from Johannesburg to Cape Town this past Saturday evening. I boarded BA Flight 6431 and settled into my seat.

I was so impressed with how great the air stewards and stewardesses were. I was particularly impressed with this one cabin controller and I made a note of his name. Patrick Nyembe.

After the 2 hour flight, I was even more impressed, so much so that I asked him for an email address of his manager so that I could compliment the service.

This isn’t something I have ever done before. I’ve let a restaurant manager know when a meal was particularly good or when a waitron was extra attentive to detail, for example, but I have never got an email address, opened my email up and then sent one off.

I thought I would share this…

I hope we remember to appreciate the goodness and kindness in people. I know that many of us are doing a job and we’re “paid to do it” … but when was the last time you received a compliment for what you were doing? How great did it feel? I bet you remember it fondly. Let’s spread that around.

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