Service with a smile is something Christine Eberhart takes to heart.
A senior parking services monitor at the Tate Student Center parking deck, Eberhart was named the 2011 recipient of a Chancellor’s Customer Service Award from the University System of Georgia for her sustained superior performance and exemplary customer service. She accepted the award at a ceremony in Atlanta in November.
The nomination noted her infectious smile, courteous nature and ability to call many deck customers by name. She also received a Customer Service Award from Finance and Administration at the division’s recognition event last May.
She’s worked in the Hull Street, Performing Arts Center and Tate Student Center parking decks for the past seven years and before then spent 14 years working as a housekeeper for University Housing.
Anthony Brown, a supervisor at the Tate Student Center Parking Deck, said Eberhart is a very uplifting person.
“If you’re in a bad mood, she’s going to lift your spirits,” he said. “She is always smiling—no matter what the situation is. She’s always positive, upbeat—and that’s very refreshing to have first thing in the morning.”
Her secret?
“I love what I do. I just love people,” Eberhart said.
Through working at the deck’s pay booth, she’s met people from all over the world and even had a customer bring her back a good luck bracelet from India. Students who have graduated have come back to give her flowers.
Eberhart said that one of the perks of her job is meeting the occasional celebrity or university notable. When she worked at the Performing Arts Center Deck she met actress Cloris Leachman and got her autograph. She’s also met Gov. Nathan Deal, Congressman John Lewis, Mary Frances Early and a number of current and former student-athletes. She’s met Vince Dooley and says that Mark Richt is always very nice when he comes through.
Not all customers are as friendly as UGA’s head football coach. Some deck patrons aren’t aware they have to pay to park.
But Eberhart believes in the golden rule.
“I want to treat people the way that I want to be treated,” she said. “That does not make me mistreat you. I do not want to do that.”
She even admits to liking the challenging people who come through the deck to see if they’ll change or if she can diffuse the situation.
“The first instinct of a lot of people who get cursed out is to curse back. Don’t curse back,” she said. “Being ugly doesn’t help.”
Eberhart follows the advice of her late husband, who passed away in January. He would always tell her to think before she spoke.
“And if you do that, a lot of time you make the best choice,” she said. “I’m not saying I do it all the time—you have to think sometimes, be quiet a minute and then just let it blow over.”
One of the activities Eberhart enjoys when she is not working is singing with her church’s praise team, Anointed Voices of Praise. In addition to performing at her church, the group also gives performances at other area churches.
But for Eberhart, singing isn’t exclusive to church and practice.
“I sing when I’m going through the deck a lot of times. I used to love to sing in the Hull Street Deck. I’d go out to the top level and sing before the customers came in,” she said.
