One star reflection
At the end of the Beacon Farmers Market on Sundays, we are wiped. It’s essentially our Friday. But like, our Friday if we had a half marathon on Thursday. So, like most Sundays, Colleen and I got home and took a delicious (I can’t think of a better word) nap for a few hours.
When I woke up, I saw an email from Google letting us know that a customer had left a review. They don’t tell you in the subject line or preview what the rating is - you have to open it. Anxiety!
We were 41 for 41 when it came to 5-star reviews—which of course felt awesome—but we also knew that day would come when we got a bummer of a review. This was the day. 3 stars.
A summary of his reivew
Loved the pastries, “incredibly delicious”
The two people at the booth at the Beacon market were friendly and personable (me and another employee)
Highly recommends trying us
Posted two nice photos of our pastries
Ok so what was the issue? That is everything we hope to do as a business…
His review would have been 5 stars, but he doesn’t think we should promote politics and personal views when running a business
Huh. This was a head-scratcher. We don’t often talk about politics with customers at work—especially at farmers markets. First, there’s no time because we’re usually slammed, and second, that’s not really our vibe since we aim to provide products (both our pastries and our environment) that give people a break from the heaviness of the world for a few minutes.
We do, however, hang a Pride flag at our booth, and I had on a hat on said “trans” that day. We also had a recent Instagram post related to Trans Day of Visibility, and we mention being a queer and trans-owned business on our website.
Being queer isn’t a personal or political view…it’s a fact about who we are. It’s not like our product was too dry, or someone gave him attitude. It’s something we can’t change—nor should we.
I wrote out a response to him. Well, a few responses in various tones. The first was angry, the second was firm, and the third was patient and friendly. Colleen and I talked to a friend who encouraged us to give it a day and sleep on it, which we did.
The next day he had edited his review, upgrading it from 3 to 4 and only leaving positive feedback. It was a total surprise. I’m not sure if someone talked to him or if he had one-stars-worth of self-reflection. I guess it doesn't really matter. In my response, I thanked him for his review and kind words, shared that the danish he got was a favorite of mine too, and told him that we’re looking forward to seeing him again.
Still chewing on the lesson(s) here—the biggest one that stands out is pausing/patience. As our friend said, “the best spiritual tool is time.”
