Lately, I’ve been finding that when I go to a restaurant to order food, I find myself standing there waiting for service while the staff runs around in the background preparing all of this food for seemingly absent clientele.

As I stood there watching Uber and DoorDash drivers come in and out of the restaurant picking up that food while I stood there waiting for service, I realized that priority was being given to online orders.

Obviously, ordering online is convenient and helping these places make money, so that’s great. But when someone does the work, makes the effort, and shows up in person, I think they should be given real, human customer service and attention.

And their order should take precedence over the steady inflow of online orders.

Unlike online orders, the opportunity to make a real and meaningful connection and experience with a real human can ultimately yield better word of mouth and marketing than a faceless online order.

If you’re running a business, make a point of rewarding those who show up and patronize your shop. Those are the people who may ultimately make a difference for your business.