Show VALUE OF courtesies A mathematician has estimated that a telephone company in a given city is losing hours work a day every day through the time taken by its operators to say please yet tile the efficiency of an employee is 13 not always measured by the capacity ity to hustle through the most moat work persons holding permanent positions with public service corporations often become discourteous iri in dealing with the public ther efficiency is harmful there are men in in such stich positions who become inclined to regard their positions as life jobs they are irritated by foolish questions and they take it out on the general public no doubt they are hurried and nervous but if so they should go into farming or nr some other occupation requiring less nerve stra strain in 1 they answer questions in monosyllables as much as possible and rarely help ahe perplexed questioner by an intelligent account of the situation A man in a position where h he 1 e stands between the public service service corporation and the public con can do a great deal of harm the public may not suffer any creat loss in dealing with him but his attitude makes his corporation seem something unfriendly and hostile it will prejudice more people than really serious abuses in the way of excessive excessive rates many corporations particularly during years have been emphasizing the value of little courtesies every question is answered with the maximum of courtesy and pains are taken to make people comfortable the public overlooks a great many wrongs when it is attended to in this friendly fashion the question whether telephone operators should take time for courtesies has often been raised telephone op operator can stop for a single word of good manners she makes the great telephone machine seem more human and friendly ex |