Friday 14 August 2009

STAR OF THE WEEK


Whereas normally I am quite a cheery old bird - honestly! - I have noticed that on my blog recently, I have given little praise for those I encounter in my day-to-day ramblings. Could it be that I have finally become a crusty old boot?

Well, no I haven't! But it does seem that we encounter fewer people who are happy to do their jobs - and do them well. So, today I would like to break my usual habits of a) only mentioning those who piss me off (largely those connected to the Ford Motor Company), and b) by not talking about work - as I normally blog as an escape.

I today ended a run of store refits, with my colleague, in which we had three days to refit the entire tiling sections of three large DIY stores (that is all types of floor and wall tiles, with just the two of us) - one store per day - all stock off shelving, shelves dismantled, resized and rebuilt, end of line stock removed, new lines worked in, and then all stock back on shelves again. The work is back-breaking, filthy and very hot indeed.

Today was, albeit still very hard work, something of a breath of fresh air. A member of the store's staff was appointed to assist us, as usual. Today, at Homebase in Chippenham, we had young Josh. However, whereas previous assistants usually only stick around until the manager isn't looking and then bugger off, Josh stuck with us all day, worked his little socks off and, when he found that we were not going to stop for a break, as we wanted to crack on and get the job done, Josh disappeared for his own coffee break, only to re-appear five minutes later with 3 cups of coffee on a tray, which we were then able to drink while we carried on working. He was courteous, extremely helpful and very hard-working. So even if he doesn't actually read this, I hope that anyone who thinks their efforts are never appreciated, will find that they are, but perhaps we don't always tell 'em so.

So, from now on, I am determined to find a 'star of the week' every week. However, if they are in short supply, I might just have to add an occasional 'plank' or 'spanner'. I wonder if anyone out there might also like to mention any of their little bright stars.

6 comments:

  1. Excellent notion don't you know
    I believe that there are more stars in the universe than planks or spanners
    It's just that the latter have a greater impact at times
    It's easy to focus on the negativity of a few and overlook the many unsung heros

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  2. I agree with the Professor. We are always ready to complain but very often forget to give praise when it is due. My star of the week goes to the care assistants at Windmill House, Tockington. They are invariably professional, patient, kind and caring even under extreme provocation from one or two unfortunate residents. I have seen them in action so I know. A star isn't enough - can I give them an entire galaxy?

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  3. Give yourself a star weevo for all your concern, humour, good wishes and advice over the last couple weeks ( I have bought by-'eck in azure and zinc tablets now) Specially when you have your own worries closer to home.make it a big gold star,you deserve it :)

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  4. I so agree with this. I've learnt that it really pays to praise and thank your colleagues as you get so much back in return and it's really not difficult to do!

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  5. I'm so glad that you all agree with me and it's lovely to hear about the other shining little 'stars' twinkling away - sometimes for very few to see - which is why I wanted to put them 'up in lights'.

    This having been said, will I tell you about the complete and utter arseholes we encountered on the first two contracts?!

    TFE: I think after what you've been through, they should bring out a special brand called 'Feckinachea' - great to have you back on top form. By the way: Man and Superman was safely collected from my local sorting office yesterday - he was (understandably) a little rankled at being left there for 3 days, as I was working 8-8 shifts and didn't get back early enough to collect him beforehand. Nonetheless, he starts his world famous tour of Wiltshire tomorrow. Watch this space!

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  6. What a great idea - there are a lot of 'stars' around, usually un-noticed.

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