Good service is good for all of us

..people should not hold back in their praise when they get good service.

THE Wairarapa Times-Age has remained a dedicated co-sponsor of the WairarapaWon awards, which reward excellent customer service, as nominated by customers.

There's plenty to like about such a feel-good competition, but one of the main reasons I like it is because complimenting good retail service is a rare thing. We are, all too often, too eager to criticise and make our feelings plain on bad service.

Sure, it is well and good to inform a business of problems, because it may assist them if there is a matter of concern. But the other extreme should hold true - people should not hold back in their praise when they get good service.

It might sound hackneyed, but I'm a great believer in praise and good turns as energy. Since (I believe) energy is never really destroyed, the effort/energy you put in to influence a course of events, be it giving someone space to turn out of an intersection, or complimenting someone on their service, is simply transferred and waiting to be passed on.

Ultimately, it may even come back to you, which I suppose could be called karma, if you wanted to get all flower-power about it.

The Wairarapa Times-Age believes that reporting on positive events and people is part of that energy investment in a community. There will, of course, be reportage on those who seem to be draining the energy out of everything they touch, and it is hard when energy is being expended to shore up the bad.

But those who do positive things are part of that constant investment. A subdivision in Greytown might seem like a dry story. But it enhances a feeling of progression, of confidence, in your town.

Growth is good - especially in Wairarapa, when you can spend years sitting next door to a weed-choked vacant lot.

Not all of us have the resources to develop property or the time to graduate with an agricultural diploma. But all of us definitely have the time to thank those who give us good service.

Give some energy back, and add that little bit of feel-good to our community.