Twelve years ago, I wrote an article that caught the attention of more than a few readers. I thought it might serve another purpose today. Here goes:
The scene was Annapolis, Maryland, the home of the United States Naval Academy. Annapolis is one pretty town—especially on a bright, clear Saturday morning in late May. Weather-wise, my wife and I hit a home run as we sauntered in and out of the cute little shops along the main drag.
We eventually wandered into a Christmas Shop down near the docks and began browsing. My wife is a dyed-in-the-wool, born Christmas fanatic. We both overheard a woman with an accent (Russian, I presumed) ask the young lady behind the counter if they could take a picture of this lovely “shop” as they had never seen anything quite so beautiful.
Between bites from a bagel with cream cheese, the young gal uttered with absolutely no eye contact whatsoever, “No. Store policy.”
Of course, being the guy who spends most of his waking hours teaching people how to treat their customers like dogs, I found my immediate attention drifting toward something that was none of my business. None the less, I figured that here was an ideal opportunity to spread some good, old fashion American hospitality to a couple of guests. (We all should be on active alert for opportunities like this one.)
Understanding that this had little to do with me, I silently approached the counter and asked the same question, from my intermediary position. Same response, but I swear I saw some cream cheese flying in my direction. I dodged the small white projectile and asked to plead my case to the store manager hoping to reverse the store policy just this one time. “He is around here somewhere, but I don’t know where he is at!”
(By the way, although this now is used as if it is acceptable, the word “at” has no place at an end of a sentence. You heard it here. If you want to show the world that you are uneducated, throw in a few “at’s” at the end of a sentence. And while you are at it, use “aks” in place of the word “ask.” This should position you nicely.)
Final Result: Store clerk “1.” Marchev “0.”
Upon leaving in defeat, I mentioned to the counter help that the store policy probably had some small print somewhere between the covers that allude to the point that the help should not unintentionally spit cream cheese in the direction of potentially paying customers. My wife then chimed in and very politely suggested that it would be in the store clerk’s best interest if she actively started looking for a job she actually enjoyed.
Because I value your readership and applaud your intelligence, I am not going to explain the glaring lessons in this sequence of events. There is more than one. I will simply mention that it is not always in your best interest to blindly follow your procedure policy manual… and it is not advisable to respond to any question while eating cream cheese.
If, by chance, the shoe fits, you too might also want to consider looking for a job that doesn’t have you counting the minutes until Friday Happy Hour and isn’t “just a job.” (I can feel the bristles now!)
Mike Marchev is a shoot-from-the-hip motivational speaker who urges owners and managers to teach both youngsters (and oldsters) how things are done properly in a competitive environment. “The tail is wagging the dog folks. This trend must be reversed… quickly.”
Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club, mike@mikemarchev.com.
*** You want more to think about? Check out my weekly podcast (Miked Up Marchev). Also listed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, and iHeartRadio.