Chipotle

I went to Chipotle today for lunch. Around lunchtime, the one that I frequent generally has a line that practically goes out the door, and today was no exception. I passed the time, talking to my friend Karen about her vacation, some work gossip, and drug cocktails that would make a reasonable substitute for Ambien (answer: two Benadryl, a glass of wine and a Xanax). By the time we got up to the counter, I had settled on what I was going to eat, and waited for the man ahead of me to give his order.

The man in front of me, however, was not a simple order. It was clear that he had never, ever been anywhere near a Chipotle in his life. He seemed like he had never even heard of Chipotle, and that this whole concept of customized fast-food was utterly foreign to him. He didn’t understand the food, the menu, how to order, or what he would get when he did order. He also looked like a cross between James Woods at the end of Citizen Cohn and Reverend Henry Kane from Poltergeist III. Just click on the links if you don’t know who they are. Reverend Kane is so scary!

Anyway, this guy had some sort of voucher for the food, and he was clearly trying to stay in accordance with that. He asked many, many questions. “What can I get? What is that? How do I order it? How does that work? Can I have tacos? Can I have a burrito? Can I have meat on it? What else does it come with? Do I tell you?” You get the gist. Meanwhile, everyone else in the line, which was now curled around the restaurant in an almost-complete circle, was freaking out, wondering what in the hell was taking so long. Seriously, if a Red Cross helicopter had dropped off a package of rations into that line of people, there probably would have been a riot. We are talking some hungry corporate-types.

Now here’s the beautiful part: those Chipotle folks who were on the counter line, and there were five of them, treated this guy like he was the only customer in the place. With infinite patience, they explained to the man that he could get whatever he liked. If he wanted tacos, he could get those. Burrito? He could get that. They showed him the difference between the size of the burrito and the tacos. They walked him through the process, and showed him how he could get whatever he wanted on his food. They explained the different meats. The different salsas. They offered him chips. There was no smirking, no eye rolling, no condescension, no irritation, no impatience, whatsoever. Every single person down the line treated this guy like gold - not just one employee, not just the manager – everyone. And when it was my turn, the first guy on the line gave me an extra big smile, like I was the only customer in the place, too.

Over the years, I have become numb to how I, as a customer, am treated. I’m used to cashiers not greeting me and not saying “thank you,” when they hand me my receipt. I am used to the heavy sighs when I ask someone to tell me where something is. I’m used to waiting for teenagers to finish their text message before they can take my order. I don’t even think about it anymore. And I am used to people in general not waiting their turn, being rude and impatient, and trying to hit me with their car because I have the audacity to cross the street at the crosswalk at the same time that they want to get somewhere. It seems like rudeness and nonchalance is sort of becoming our way of life. But when I have an experience like the one I had at Chipotle today, it reminds me that we’re just better than that. Sure, people may have had to wait two or three extra minutes for their delicious burrito, but they waited so that someone could be treated like he was valued, respected, and appreciated – not just as a customer, but as a human being.

So, here’s a little fact about customer service: a dissatisfied customer will tell anywhere from 8 to 20 people about his or her bad experience, while a satisfied customer is likely to tell just two or three. I think what happened today at Chipotle, which goes way beyond simple customer service, deserves as many listeners as it can possibly get. I am telling you right now – not only does Chipotle have delicious food, but it demonstrates that it values the customer in a way that we can all get behind. So, go eat a burrito; perhaps you’ll see pure decency in action.