A Random Act of Kindness

As part of my job as a trends specialist, I write articles for various magazines within the craft and hobby industry. Recently I wrote about the trend of business owners and employees who offer 'random acts of kindness' as an way to build customer relations. I mentioned several businesses and described what they were doing, and how appreciative their customers were. Well, today it happened to me! I made an online lunch order to Chipotle as I do every few weeks. Just for me; just one Fajita Bowl and a drink. I like Chipotle but it's not like I hang out there. I maybe go twice a month. Anyway, my friend and I head over there to pick up my lunch. We walk up to the front of the line to pay--when you order online you just go in, pay for it if you haven't already, and they hand your food to you--and as I am handing the girl my credit card she says, No, no, lunch is on us today because you are a good customer and we want to thank you! What? Excuse me? Really?! Yes! And here's a bag of chips to go with that. My friend is looking at me like 'how do you rate?' I said to her, It's a 'random act of kindness', just like I wrote about. It makes the customer feel great and builds goodwill. And you know what? It really does. Thank you, Chipotle. That was a super nice thing you did for me!