What Would You Do?

I was at the St. Louis airport curbside checking bags waiting behind a man and woman with two large suitcases that needed to be weighed as they looked close to 50 lbs each. It was about 15 degrees.  

Skycap said to the couple with a friendly smile, "You're lucky; they're not overweight." The couple said "thanks" and walked away into the airport.  

I could see the surprise in the skycaps face because he didn't get a tip. I tapped the skycap on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, did that man not tip you?" 

The skycap shook his head and said, "No ma'am he didn't."  

What did I do?  

Pick one  

A. Shake my head in disbelief & mind my own business  

B. Call after the couple who didn't tip & suggest they do  

C. Open my wallet and give the skycap $2.00 and tell him he did a good job 

To those who know me, you know I did "C." The skycap didn't want to take the money at first; however, I asked him to please take it and pay it forward one day. He seemed to understand that. 

I also told him my bet was those folks probably didn't travel much and perhaps weren't aware of the premise of curbside check in. Those guys work hard in all types of weather. All this with a hard to miss sign that simply says "gratuities accepted."  

I really wanted to give the traveler the benefit of the doubt, but then again.... I wonder. 

What would you have done?

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Nancy Friedman is a frequent speaker at association, corporate and franchise meetings. The author of 8 books on her service expertise, she has appeared on Fox News, CNN, Today Show, and Oprah, as well as many other shows. She has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today along with many major dailies. President of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training, she can be reached at 314-291-1012 or www.nancyfriedman.com.