Both ends, and in between…
Funny thing about service standards eh? They’re high, low and in between depending on who you’re dealing with. We, well the older generation, have a multitude of experiences to use as a measure.
We used to drive into a service station, and before you stopped there were three young men and women descending on your car.
They cleaned your windshield, checked your oil, filled your gas tank, checked your tires, and the ultimate came but once — a fourth young man opened the doors and vacuumed the floor mats, front and rear, asking the passengers politely to raise their feet a bit.
That was, and remains, our ultimate service station service. Those folks had our business forever except for one small detail — we were 322 kilometres from home.
But hey, that was ‘back aways’ in time as Jimmy says it, before Big Merchants came along helping us save bucks by doing their work for them pumping our own gas, packing our own groceries, and serving ourselves every which way but Sunday. I wonder — does that increase their profits too?
Anyway, personal service is a bit out of favour in many places in our land today but not everywhere thanks to our homegrown merchants who keep it alive and well.
The newer shopping kids on the block are used to the new wave of ‘work-for-us-serve-yourself’ merchandising. The older generation don’t cotton to it all that much.
Our friends and neighbours, the small business men and women of the neighborhood spoiled us rotten with personal service so it’s ingrained. It’s part of our roots, and so are they!
Despite all the huff-and-puff rhetoric from the big boys in government and big business it’s small businesses which are the backbone of the economy producing over 80 per cent of the jobs in the nation. So a tip of the hat to small businesses; they may be small in size, but they’re big in our hearts.
Walter’s Wisdom: The reason there were fewer wrecks on the roads in the horse-and-buggy days was because drivers didn’t depend wholly on their own intelligence.
Oscar’s Observation: Some people can stay longer in an hour than others can in a week.
Can you raed tihs?
“I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the only iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm.
This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe.”
P.S. If you want to see how smart your spell checker is try typing the mixed up words above, and watch it go to work. If it’s the same as mine it’s about as good as the current crop of movie writers: it works only with four-letter words.
We seem to have lost spring this year, so a tip of the hat to lost seasons wherever they go.
