I know when I go to the store after work, in my Sprint uniform, I make a conscious effort to act kind and courteous because face it - when you wear something with your "brand" on it, you are representing that company. Say I went to Target after work, and something didn't go right and I made a huge stink about it... what are they going to remember? They aren't going to remember "that person who had a fit," no no, they will remember "That person who works at Sprint who had a fit." Suddenly, their impression of Sprint may be tainted because of my actions. Maybe I don't have a fit, but perhaps I just have a downright lousy attitude. What if I was short with someone who was helping me and just acting "holier than thou" - I still think this is a representation of who I work for if I'm wearing my work clothes. If I showed up there with my shirt on and a bad attitude, they probably think "Man, what got into that person. Sprint must be awful if she shows up here acting in such a foul mood." I make a very conscious effort, however, not to act like my above mentioned scenarios. Especially in my work clothes. I don't want to deter someone away that could possibly come and buy from me! In fact, I want them to receive a good impression from me so they want to come see me again. I just used myself and Sprint as an example, but I believe the same goes with other parties as well.
On this same line of thought... how does it appear when someone shows up wearing their religious symbol? What got me thinking about this more in recent days were a few encounters with customers at work. I understand we are all humans, and not all of us are perfect, not of all us have good days. Some of us may have really bad days - but if you are going to announce to the world "I'm a Christian," by wearing a cross, or a t-shirt, then one should represent Christ. After all, proclaiming your faith through a symbol for others to see is coming off as a representation of Christ. Over the weekend I had not just one, but two sets of customers come in obviously of the Christian faith. Both had quite miserable attitudes with me. Each customer acted "holier than thou," neither were very friendly (despite my friendly efforts), and just left a bit of a bad/bitter taste in my mouth. I couldn't help but think: hey Mister, if you are going to wear that Christian t-shirt, you need to consider your attitude. Luckily I know my faith, and I know better than to take someone's bad attitude as a representation of the "company" of Christ - however, someone weak in their faith, or with little to no faith, may evaluate that encounter and think "Yeah, look at that hypocritical Christian. Saying how good they are, yet acting like a jerk to me." If I am shopping for cell phones, and have a bad experience with someone wearing a T-Mobile shirt, why would I want to go to T-Mobile? If one is a bit lost in their faith, and has a poor experience with someone wearing a cross necklace, would they have enough sense to be able to move past that? Unfortunately not, in most cases. The next day I had a lady customer who came through and was acting quite snobby towards me, with her cross right in front of me. The truth is, most people judge off first impressions. Whether you like it or not, it's the truth. I'd love to see people holding themselves more accountable. If one is going to wear a symbol (cross, company logo), that represents who they work for, then one should act in a way that represents the company!
I think we all need to remember this next time we are out somewhere wearing a symbol that represents who we are, or what we believe in. Next time before you put on that cross necklace and start interacting with people, perhaps one can ask themselves, "How does this make me look, and my belief system look?" Turn thins around... look at how YOU would feel if you were on the other side looking at YOU.
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