Great Service! (and not-so-great service)

I like to be treated like a somebody. I do not like to feel like a nobody. Maybe even in another lifetime, I would have been a great emperor. I can just see it now: "Ladies and Gentiles, arise in honour of the great Russian aristocrat, His Royal Heinous, Cragov von Funstonavich!" Okay, okay, perhaps not that sort of lofty treatment, but I don't want to be treated as a royal pain, either.

My 'rant' (with my name attached, of course) has to do with my role in life as Joe Customer, or his cousin, Joe Consumer. I am ill and weary (that would be sick and tired) of trying to buy something somewhere from someone, and being treated like I have economic leprosy. What do I need to do to get reasonable, courteous service in store - walk in with twenty dollar bills sticking out of my ears?

I have found service in many different quarters – from trades to fast food to small ticket items – appallingly lax at times. There seems to be a dearth of appreciation for me, the so-called valued customer (well, at least that's what the ad says). Finding a clerk is hard enough; getting them to stop talking to their fellow-employee is another thing. And getting them to understand that the better they treat the customer, the more secure their job is is possibly the hardest thing.

But with the ongoing deterioration of our families, and by extension, our culture, this will increase more and more. If kids aren't being trained at home how to interact with people other than their own clique, how to serve others (other than themselves), or how to think outside the X-box, they become adults who do the same.

I meet some of them every time I get fries with my order.

Is this true in every store, with every trade? Hardly. If you run a business or ply a trade at which you work hard, take no offense. I am obviously not discussing (a portmanteau of 'dissing' and 'cussing?) you and yours. I'm probably talking about your competitor, so keep up the good work. For me, good service will win me over for life; the inverse, unfortunately, is also true.

I believe it is a proverb somewhere: No servee, no jobee.

A case in point is our recent run of malfunctions in our kitchen over the past few months (no, Horace, it wasn't my cooking). On the one hand, we faced the repeated extreme incompetence of the extended warranty representatives; but on the other hand, the overwhelming, refreshing service of an appliance shop (their spelling, The Appliance Shoppe) out of Redcliff.

It was refreshing for the following reasons: They came when they said they would; they were upbeat and courteous; and they knew their stuff. I also really like the idea that they were a father and son team. However, if I say any more, I may have to charge them for free advertising!

My point is this: We need to get back to the days of good service in every sector of our society. Even I can remember when that was the rule and not the exception. Whether you are a butcher, baker, or candlestick-maker, remember that the customer (read: consumer, client, homeowner) comes first.

It starts with me and mine; namely, I must train my kids to know the difference between being a server and a doormat, between initiative and ambition, between drive and being driven. During these tough economic times, which may be here for a while, it is timely that our children learn how to treat others.

No matter who we come in contact with, then, it is always good to treat everybody as a somebody.