2. Representing a service

In this sense, a hairdresser, a law firm, a hospital, a restaurant, a shop, a transport company or a bank do not produce goods but services. We also distinguish between market services, which can be easily bought and sold, and non-market services, which meet the definition of public goods and whose production is regulated or carried out by the State (education, health, civil security, justice, defense, administration). These public services, the origin of the word service (from the Latin servitium: a state of slavery and servitude) and the expression "rendering service" link the notion of service in people's minds to a personal gift during interactions with the service provider, rather than to a commercial service. This is particularly true in France, where public services (education, health) are part of the social acquis. We must take care to develop an empathetic and benevolent relationship...