Tonight we stopped at a grocery store because I needed to pick up some apple juice for something (a lot of apple juice).  We went to the cheapest store that was closest to where we were.

It reminded me why I strive to only shop at Trader Joe's (and sometimes Whole Foods and Target)...it's not frustrating!  The whole atmosphere seemed annoyed.  I can't explain it other than that.  There were lots of little things I noticed that added to that general feeling.

A few weeks ago I happened to go to Trader Joe's on a weekend.  Monday mornings happen to be our regular shopping time which is wonderful, truly great.  Anyway, it was busy and a bit hard to navigate, though do-able. 

I got up to the long line (relatively, based on my normal Monday morning line) to check out.  Every lane was open, but they were still longer lines.  But instead of people being frustrated people were fine.  Cashiers were still friendly.  A woman 2 people up from me was turned to the people behind her telling them that it was still worth coming, even though it was busy, because the employees really knew there stuff. 

Atmosphere makes such a difference.  Happy employees make happy customers.  Customer service that actually cares about people and truly wants to help customers makes a great difference.