As someone who travels often, I have come to expect some bumps along the way when it comes to customer service. To get from point A to point B, I need to interact with at least a dozen customer service agents from different companies. By the time I get to my room at the hotel I am exhausted not only from the travel itself, but from trying to uplift all the lifeless customer service representatives. I greet them with a smile- they greet me with a blank expression. I thank them for their help and they say nothing in return. This has become such a pattern that I almost missed a very special customer service moment. I wasn’t expecting it. I wasn’t expecting her to use words that matter. It was a simple service. She brought me oatmeal followed by my check. I thanked her with a smile. She smiled back. She said “I love you” and walked away with my dirty dishes. I didn’t get it at first; it didn’t sink in. I wondered if I heard her right as I walked to my car. I thought about it all day long and am now sharing it with you a month later. Words matter.