The Customer Is Always Right

To say that "the customer is always right" belittles the customer and the employee. It undermines the customer's ability to reason and reduces the employee's possibilities to act in the company's best interests. If the customer is always right, then the rules and guidelines of companies are there to be broken and/or waived, as long as you complain loudly enough.

To say that "the customer is always right" perpetuates the already inflated sense of entitlement that we, as Americans, feel. Please note that there is a difference between entitlement and right. Right is something you justly have a claim to while entitlement is the believe that one is deserving of a certain privilege (Webster's dictionary). As we all know, feeling we have the right and actually having the right are two different things. I may feel entitled to free pictures because I had to wait longer than the hour I originally expected, but unless I have a contract or agreement specifying free pictures after 1 hour then the feeling is all I have. Unfortunately for me at some places where "the customer is always right" I might actually get those pictures for free if I complain enough. Therein lies my frustration.

Perhaps a better assertion to model your business on would be that "the customer is number one." Being number one does not mean that the customer will always be right... in fact, as a company, I will actually respect you more if they are NOT always right. How can you expect your employees to educate the customer if they always have to give in? Educating your customer shows respect for their reasoning skills and their rights. Don't believe that? How would you feel if you had just paid $15.00 for photos after having waited for 15 extra minutes, and someone comes in behind you yelling and screaming and gets their pictures free? You have the right to be treated as everyone else. Now, if you had to re-do your entire photo order because the system lost your pictures, or ruined your film, that might be another story. I am by no means against doing things that bend guidelines "for business interests" as long as that is not the norm. Again - for the same reasons above.

It all boils down to respect. Respect your customer enough to show them right vs wrong, and respect them enough to treat them the same as all your other customers. Respect your employee enough to give them the tools and support they need to do the job you ask of them.

And by all means.... if YOU are the customer... please PLEASE respect the store employees! While you might be the most important responsibility that employee has, you are not the only one, and you are NOT always right.

Three Day Weekends

I don't have to be me 'til Monday
Friday, Saturday, Sunday
I ain't gonna face reality.
Three days without punching a timeclock
Three nights of goin' non-stop
No work and all play
I don't have to be me 'til Monday
-Steve Azar ('I Don't Have to be Me' lyrics)

   Sometimes you don't realize how much you needed a break until you are half way through your time off. This weekend became a three day weekend for our family - we flew out to Miami Friday night after work and returned Monday evening. Round about Saturday night I could feel my shoulders relaxing and realized how much I really needed the break. I'm not sure about you, but I get wrapped up in the things I have to do too often and forget about relaxing and taking breaths. I might not even realize until I start burning out, getting sick, or getting snappy.

Fortunately my husband is an avid sports fan, as is my aunt. As it happens, they are opposing team fans, and those opposing teams (Jets & Dolphins) were playing down in Miami this past weekend where my aunt has season passes. Three day weekend to Miami to see relatives, a football game, and not have to work, cook, or clean? Too good to pass up! It was great. The weather was cool (for Miami, that is) and the company was fantastic. I did not go to the football game (not my team) and instead stayed home to play with the baby and watch CSI, Law & Order, Mrs Doubtfire, and something else I don't remember right now. I re-realized how hilarious a movie Mrs Doubtfire is. She calls the children "nose miners." I laughed for a long time about that one. Surely you find that as amusing as I do.

Now that we're back I feel the urge of the things I "have to do" pressing in on me again, but I'm trying to just take things one step at a time so as not to get overwhelmed again. If you come over to visit you will find my house imperfect, at best, but full of love. Maybe even some relaxed parents. Maybe.

For now, I'm off to do some picking up and then to bed.

The End of the World is Nigh

On Friday, Sept 17, 2010, the end of the world as we know it began. I hate to be the bearer or bad news, but from now on nothing will be the same. Nothing. Rachel has begun to crawl. Granted, it took her long enough, but once she made up her mind to start she has not looked back.

For 2 months she has been on-and-off rocking on her arms and knees, but I've been at a loss as to how to teach her to crawl. Instead, someone suggested to teach her how to set up and lie down (voluntarily and independently of assistance). So I tried. If I rolled her to her side and held her hip, she could push up to a sitting position, but I could not get her to transition to doing it by herself. Finally she learned her own unique way. She will twist her legs to the side and go down OVER her legs. To sit up, she gets on her knees and then keeps going backward. At one point in the process it always looks like she's doing splits. I wish I were still that flexible.

For about a week, getting up and down was enough for her. Then she learned how to knee forward. In less than 24 hours from her initial attempt she was a pro. Now if you call her she can come toward you (albeit somewhta slowly). Once again, I realized how UN-baby-proofed my house was. As I lamented this fact to Rachel's Godmother yesterday she (who has been through 6 children) put me at ease: "Oh I never worried about baby-proofing. Just keep a safety lock on your cleaning supplies." [Note: that is not a direct quote because I do not have that great of a memory, however that was what I got out of it. I'm sorry, Shell, if I mangled your words.] Phew! What a relief. And thinking about it, I guess she's right. I seem to remember my mom putting a lock on the under-the-sink cabinet and closing all important doors when Heather and Josh were babies. I don't remember plug covers, but then again, there probably were. I have some, thanks to Mike, and will need to put them in here soon.

Today (Monday) I have to work and it's Daddy Day for the baby. I vacuumed and tried to pick up the most tempting items, and he did a great job of cleaning up cords and cables. I guess we will find out soon how bad of a job we've done. Baby-proofing rule #1: You never get everything.

Well I'm off to work...thanks for reading this, and if you'd like to share your stories about baby-proofing or the lack thereof, I'd love to hear them!