Service With a Smile

As I drove my power chair into the cafeteria at Indianapolis University I saw two college girls in colorful uniforms standing by the door. One of them asked, "Would you like me to help you get your food?"

I nodded, "Thank you for asking."

"It's my job to ask. I do it every day." she smiled.

"Do you have to take some special training for this job?" "Yes! I'm supposed to spot people who might need assistance and volunteer to help them before they ask me. Then I am to explain all the menu options while I am putting the plates on the tray. Then I smile as I ask the customer about each item as we go down the line. They call that ‘service with a smile’."

Different students were stationed by the door at each meal. Yet I was treated with grace and style every time.

Due to my vision problems, it is difficult for me to see the menu options whenever I attend a pot-luck or buffet dinner. Due to my walking problems it is difficult for me to serve up the food I want. Most of the time my wife assists me. But it is embarrassing because we either cause a traffic jam in the serving line, or she has to go through the line twice. If she is not with me I have no idea who to ask for assistance. It was refreshing to be treated with attentiveness and cheerfulness and not to be anxious and embarrassed about needing help.

After the conference was over, as I left the university, I wondered, ”Why doesn’t every church, civic organization or business have someone trained and assigned to assist people with vision or walking problems whenever there is a reception or a buffet dinner? Why should the spouse be expected to gather the food for two people?” I think that it is high time that every organization and every institution expect disabled persons to attend their social functions and celebrations, and to provide "service with a smile" whenever food is served.

Dr. Greene is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and a resident of Richmond, IN. He is also the author of Benjamin's Dog Joseph, Feeling Better: The Wisdom of the Doc, You Can Feel Better: How to cope with chronic pain and physical disabilities, and co-author of Walking Free: the Nellie Zimmerman Story.

For further information about his books, please visit www.densmorereid.com

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