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Self Service or No Service

Well what is the difference? We went shopping for a few grocery items, it was about 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday evening. There were two lines open attended by human beings,  one was 15 items or less, and four self-service lanes.

Now people, this is not nuclear physics here, I am a big fan of getting in and out of a place. I utilize  the self-service machines as often as possible. They are generally efficient and lack attitude. However, I do believe the idea behind them is supposed to be speed and efficiency.  What was  the manager of this store thinking when he set-up a schedule that allowed him to close the only other lane in the store capable of handling customers with 16 items or more? I think most of us can hold our own with a couple of items to check out and bag, but when the numbers increase the time does too. Here is the scenario; you have one lane that can take care of any sized order, one lane that takes care of small orders and four machines that will help customers delay other customers and make the shopping experience a dreaded event. That makes sense? Do self service machines give the humans an excuse not to be of service?

Workers complain about cut hours, yet in a situation like this rarely do you see the checker step back, make eye contact, or do anything that resembles customer service. How many times have you encountered an employee, made an inquiry, and actually got what you needed or at the very least you felt like they were truly trying to help you. I found myself feeling the need to explain to an individual who was supposed to be providing me with service.

I do not want to become one of those people with a “perpetual chip-on- my-shoulder. Always aware of the wrongs others are guilty of but not of my own. Perhaps that is why I did bother saying something to the young woman whose line I “invaded”. I felt justified, yet if someone with 15 items or less said something to me, what would my response be? The truth is I wanted to get my order taken care of a fast as possible so I could go about my business. I could have gone to customer service, asked for the manager and lodged my complaint. In turn he ( I know the manager) would have apologized, corrected the situation or both. At any rate it would have taken longer to do that than to just go to the line and get checked out.

Entitlement comes to use in a variety of disguises, but eventually it will reveal itself. Although I felt justified in what I did, I was still in the wrong line. We expect customer service and when we don’t get it we become a bit out of line. I had three choices and I did none of them. I have to tell you if someone would have come up behind me and said,” What’s going on here; this is the 15 item or less line, can’t you read?” I would have been embarrassed and probably angry. Who knows what that would have led to.

The right thing to do would not have solved my problem immediately, but it may have had a better long term effect. I suppose if I walk into that store again and the same conditions exist, I will have to accept some responsibility for things being that way. Furthermore, what will I do this time?

Giving Em The Business

Expectations of professionalism and quality are my first thoughts. Dropped like a hot potato; one of my oldest reliable clients told me that my services were going to be cancelled. She said immediately,” It was nothing we did, that they(she and her husband) were trying to cut expenses.”‘ She went on to say that she/they would like to periodically use us and how would she go about doing this. I explained the procedure, but I was still in the beginning of the conversation. No matter what she said my mind asked over and over “What just happened here?”, because I did not see this coming. I did not have an opportunity to suggest an alternative plan, because it seemed to me her mind was made up. I did not want to be invasive, but I would be lying if I said I took her entirely at “face value”.

Losing this client brought to light that I had violated something I vowed I would not do in my business practices, I got personally involved.  I felt like I lost a friend along with that revenue. I was damaged, hurt, and insulted. Observing what I believed to be a very southern practice; over and over I witnessed individuals insinuating themselves into the lives of people who they wanted to do work,  people they wanted to work for, and/or people they wanted provide services to or obtain services from. It seemed to me that in their minds, if you were friends “we” could conduct business and if “I” need to do something outside the realm of business (such as hold a check for payment repeatedly) it was somehow more acceptable. No matter this was a ploy or disingenuous.

I never really thought much of the two week notice practice. I felt like an employer asks for what they are unwilling to provide circumstances reversed. After all they do not tell you they are letting you go in two weeks when they terminate you. I also had seen the way employees were treated when they gave that required expected notification. Now I am forced to rethink that position. I  suppose it may have been better if my former client gave me an advanced notification such as; after the next visit we are cancelling in opposed to I am cancelling service. Realistically, speaking she treated me like I was just someone who worked for her. News Flash, that is exactly who I am!

Questions arose; did I do or not do something right, are they really having financial issues. Honestly, the only real concern I should have had was, if our work performance and work ethic were stable and intact . If I could give an affirmative response to those questions, I would have done what is required and expected of me as a business owner and service  provider. Truth is clients/customers/business contacts enter and depart from you and your business. They are as any other individual because at the root they are just people: here for a reason or for a season.

However, it is just business, and I must bounce back and recover. For future references though, I will keep the thought of NOT getting personally involved with my customers/clients in the forefront. I must continue to try to do what I would tell you I currently do; Treat people/clients/customers the way I want to be treated.

What You’re Sayin With Your Drivin

Living in the Metro Atlanta area when I drive my mind is strictly on driving. Where I am going, what time I need to be there, and most importantly, what the other drivers around me are doing. When we first moved to Atlanta over 17 years ago I was amazed at how TERRIBLY people drove, and I am sad to say things have only gotten worse.

Behind the wheel of a car, it seems people are busy doing everything but the task at hand. Young people playing their music far too loud, older people driving in a semi-conscious state.. then out of the blue we return to the place we should be in behind the wheel of a car. Our consciousness hasn’t had time to catch up with our physical being. As we travel along we encounter several road hazards; none of them identified, none of them give you forewarning, but out there with you just the same. How do you hope to get where you are going much less survive, when you have a driver so close on your bumper, that you can have a conversation with them, or the one who speeds past you only to pull right in front of you when the lane they are in is clear. How about that sensitive driver who is so busy being nice that they obstruct traffic. I could go on and on however, I must pay homage to the ones who are the most dangerous of all and the ones who inspired me to once again talk to and about. They are the multi-taskers.

Let me say this there are somethings that require our undivided attention; driving down the highway or navigating the busy city streets just happen to “fit that bill”.

The child safety industry has recognized this, thus the rear facing car seats that require you to stop, pull over, etc. if you must attend to your child while they are restrained in the unit. The cell phone industry with the invention of the bluetooth said to us, you cannot hold the phone, talk, and drive.They could have gone just a little farther with this concept and said it is difficult to truly give driving your undivided attention if you are talking PERIOD.

I know this tugs at a multitude of you but let’s be real/ examine yourselves; do you use your hands when you talk, are gestures a part of your communication? If you answered “yes” then you have to accept the following; no matter how long you have driven, no matter how good you think you are at driving and doing other things, YOU ARE AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN AND YOUR SCHEDULE IS TIGHT!

The article I wrote several years ago for the Atlanta Journal Constitution was from a first person driver standpoint, now I am a passenger more often than not. I am a daily critic of someone else’s driving and interacting behind the wheel. I witness a very skilled arrogant aggressive driver who has in turn made me a more aware motorist. I am not viewed as a very good driver by this same individual; I can point out things like I was professionally trained and required to take annual refresher courses in defensive driving, but that still would not change the way my husband views my driving.

Therefore, as always these pieces are subjective. I hope they entertain the reader and make you think. As an observer I see that we are using numerous excuses for a series of bad practices. Today’s drivers say and demonstrate the following:  My overly sensitive motorist helping another get into traffic is saying, ” I am so afraid to drive, if I let enough folks go by maybe I’ll get the road to myself”. My arrogant-aggressive driver says, ” Get out of my way I have some place to go/something to do even if you don’t!” My multi-tasker ” There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to do what I need to do, so I will have to catch up on the road.” My dancing partying teen is saying ,” OOOH LOOK AT ME!! NO HANDS!”

What are you saying and what are you doing when you are behind the wheel?

They Hold The Key To Your Heart

Let’s face it we Americans have an ongoing love affair with our automobiles. They symbolize beauty, sex appeal, success. Short version of the way we feel about self.

Have you ever lost your car keys? There was a point when I would sit my keys down and minutes later I had no idea where I put them. The worse thing about this was I had several keys attached to this one keyring; so if this mess of keys was lost I could not get in my house, I could not open my desk, and I certainly could not drive my car. Looking back at those times I wonder how I could be so careless and forgetful. As time went on that phase passed; I became resourceful, I stopped carrying all of my keys on one keyring and had copies of all of my keys, just in case. I learned it was not a good thing to have so much weight in your car’s ignition.

Suffice to say I cannot tell you the last time I lost my car keys. However, this deserves a bit of clarity, the truth is I did not actually lose my keys during this careless stage I merely misplaced them. The one and only time my keys were truly lost I was at work. I finished early enough to take advantage of over-scheduling and ended up waiting hours for a locksmith, who relieved me of $100.00 for two seconds of effort some twenty plus years ago.

Technology brought key finders and remote entry devices. For additional cost(be that vehicle selection or upgraded options) you don’t even have to carry a key to start your car engine. However, we everyday folk are still at the mercy of keys. I have been told around and/or about 1999 automobile manufacturers started distributing keys with “chips” in them. Now I have bought several new cars since 1999, and do recall hearing the word “chip” tossed about in reference to the keys, but remember I haven’t lost or misplaced a key in twenty plus years.This”chip” was marketed as an anti-theft device/deterrent, and while there may be some basis in fact here is some harsh reality about these wonderful little devices.

First, if you ever decide you need a spare key you cannot go by the local hardware store or even the large national chain that  has a key department and pay a couple of dollars for a quick copy.That little chip has enabled the automobile dealer the ability to almost exclusively be the only option you have to replace this once simple and common item. Getting a key copied is a service department matter; and get this it will take up an hour of your time, and cost you at least 150.00 depending on the make, model, and year of your vehicle. Recently I purchased a used car which the owner only had one key, I found out the hard way and to say I was slightly upset (pissed off) is putting it mildly.

Now there are other options you can order keys and remotes from the internet and do a self-programing job. I am not that good with these types of things so I didn’t even  make an attempt. You can also take a chance with the hardware store key and hope it works, but does not mess up your alarm system or starter. I really don’t recommend this.

Low and behold there is a happy ending to this. There is a way to get a  fully operational key copy for what the dealer would charge you for the  blank un-programmed key alone. Do the research; look for a local small hardware store, not the big national companies they don’t have the equipment.

Strange isn’t it? Do you have any idea why any nation chain home improvement superstore would not have what a small “Mom & Pop Operation” does. What is there to be gained? Indulge me for a brief moment, if the automobile dealers are the only ones who make the keys then they have exclusiveness. A large national chain could put a dent in that exclusiveness, to avoid this happening the automobile companies pay this same chain to keep them from putting a dent in this exclusiveness.  Of course this is just a theory. However, once again we the consumer suffer.

“I Gotta Rock”

You know this line. Any self-respecting “Charlie Brown “fan recognizes this from “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”. We are getting on in years. Some of us are doing it better than others.

Now do we sit still and accept the fateful hand of what nature has dealt us, or do we handle nature in our unique manner? Let’s explore. Remember when there were no advertisements for physicians? The way you found a doctor was through a family member, a friend, or by chance. Now some big P.R firm shoves the idea of having Doctor I. M. Special for your primary care physician down your throat and you accept it. After all you saw him on television all fixed up to look perfect, and if he is perfect you are convinced he knows what he is doing. There was a time that plastic surgeons were looked upon as the “perpetual black sheep” of the profession, now they are the “golden child” and it is all because of mainstreaming. We are looking for perfection, or the edge that can give us a closer shot at it. Keep in the back of your mind, that we all are moving on in age like it or not.

You have lived through years of eating three meals a day at some fast food restaurant and you wonder why you are overweight and have high blood pressure. Well we have to fix that, schedule yourself for out-patient liposuction and get a prescription for a diuretic of  your choice? Now what is the “hot drug” this week?By the way did it ever occur to you that just because some large pharmaceutic company is pushing a  particular drug that you may not be qualified to suggest to a trained physician what you need to take. You can stop putting that unhealthy fat-riddle fast food into your system, you can start exercising and eating balanced meals, oh but what am I saying that process would take time. I’m gonna need this weight loss/improved health/more youthful look on the instant gratification plan.

I shook my head in minor disgust, as I noticed the national tabloids sporting articles on celebrity cellulite and plastic surgeries gone wrong. I watched an ad for anti-aging cream  warn about fifty year old skin.  Well what’s wrong with fifty year old skin,  especially if you are fifty. If you have cellulite you go to the local plastic surgeon; he botches things up, now not only do you still have the signs of cellulite, you have additional scarring. You could have had that cellulite and not incurred a costly and possibly dangerous procedure. Forgive me, I am not going to rush out and have a doctor put me into a sleep that I may not awake from, so he can do something  to me that may not work.

When I was growing up my parents cautioned me to take care of my things, so that they would last for a longer time period. Huummm…However, when you are not satisfied with self, when you think that there is an easier, faster way of deceiving nature and turning back the hands of time; you have to realize that you, much like “Charlie Brown”, may end up with a rock.

Is Everything Disposable?

My flat screen television went on the “blink” a short time ago, fortunately it was under warranty. I contacted the manufacturer and began the process of getting my problem taken care of. The short version of this story is a repairman was dispatched, he came out spent about ten minutes working on the set( five of those ten minutes he was on the phone with the manufacturer) before he told me it couldn’t be fixed and Sharp would have to send me a new one. I pondered about how disappointed I was. I mean this set was only about a year old, I liked it, I was used to it and now I had to go through another procedure before I could watch television. Why, because I thought when a repairman was dispatched to see about a relatively new piece of machinery I expected it to be fixed. Hold on, I thought when I bought that set it would last more than a year before I would be faced with going out and searching for another one. Think about it what was the last thing you had fixed in your home? I remember a time in my life very clearly technicians/repairmen coming to our home to fix washing machines, refrigerators, and yes televisions. I also remember that devices such as these used to last quite a long time.

Maytag advertised that their repairmen were the loneliest peole in town. This claim was to draw your attention to the fact that their machines were so good, so reliable that you basically did not need a repairman and the poor guy was destined to a life of boredom and loneliness. You, on the other hand, the smart consumer would have a great piece of equipment to last a lifetime. Value for your dollar, who could ask for more. Wait, value for your dollar, integrity, sound and solid products, are these a thing of the past?

Disposable used to apply to paper products, items that were understandably cheaper to toss in the trash than to take time to clean or wash (i.e. napkins, plates, cups) let alone replace. I find it utterly ridiculous to think about getting a new item such as a printer instead of buying a replacement cartridge of ink, yet I recently found it to be true.

Making things that are so easily replaced, cheapens and devalues them. Let’s revisit my television, one might think”okay well at least you got a new set”, but this is the deal. I didn’t want a new set I had the set I wanted. I went shopping, I did my research and decided on that particular model. Suddenly, I am told this is no good and here is another one.  Think about it, if it is so easy to replace don’t you wonder if was made very good to begin with?Am I becomimg my parents, living in the cliche’ of “I remember when”,  and if I am is it wrong to expect something I paid for to last long enough for me to feel comfortable in throwing out the packaging it came in?