The economy is bad, we all know that. The recovery has yet to reach this part of the Midwest. You know this is true when people with great work records go months without an interview, or when people with teaching degrees have to work at Taco Bell.
People who are lucky enough to find jobs or hang on to the ones they have, struggle. Millions of people live paycheck to paycheck, or trot off sadly to a soul-sucking job each day just to avoid foreclosure, bankruptcy and ruin.
So I see it this way: If you have your own business, and yourself for a boss, you are a pretty lucky person. As an entrepreneur, I think the first rule of business is to value your customers. Seems simple, right?
But in my experience, it seems that business owners in and around Steuben county have all the customers they need. Recently, when I've walked into a store or called someone to do a service for me, they aren't interested. They either refuse to wait on me or call me back.
My sister needs a lawnmower. We walked into Helwig's on the south end of town, ready to make a cash purchase. All cash. Right then, right now. Three slack-jawed workers stood at the counter, saw us walk in, looked at us with comtempt, and turned back to their dipshit conversation. We walked around, looked at their three, horribly over-priced lawn tractors and walked right back out. No one ever acknowledged our presence. No one said hello or waited on us.
So my sister decided, the grass is getting long, I should hire someone to mow. The same someone who mowed it two weeks ago. We called him Tuesday, June 11th and got his voicemail. Left a message, he never called back. I called him again Friday, June 14th and he told me, promised me, he would mow it today, June 15th. Well it's getting late in the day, it looks like rain, and big surprise, he has yet to show up.
He has all the business he needs. He doesn't have to mow our yard. Helwig's has sold all the tractors they need to as well. They don't need to make $2,000 cash within 15 minutes, huh?
What can I attribute this to? Sexism? Had I sent a male friend in my place, would we now be driving a new lawn tractor around the yard, cutting the grass? What if I altered my voice, called myself Mel instead of Melanie and called people? Would I get better results?
Or is it laziness? Perhaps this is why Steuben County is short on millionaires. Only do "Enough?"
Whatever it is, I'm sick of it. Terrible service is unacceptable. I don't expect special treatment, just equal. If you own a business, big or small, treat people with decency. Realize the person you ignore or treat badly could be the turning point for your future.
