A long time ago, long before kids, my husband (aka: Sarge) and I decided that we only wanted to do business with good people; Folks who were honest and hard-working and who treated us right… versus those establishments that may have a slightly lower price tag but their store-side manner just stunk (cleaned up for the G rating). As customers, we were just sick and tired of the bad attitude and atrocious manners of salespeople and owners alike. So we stopped giving our money to those establishments and decided to only support businesses that demonstrate good business practices and employ polite, customer-centric people… something both the Sarge and I do in our own professional lives!
So, I’ve been doing some deep thinking lately about the establishments I frequent. After my negative experience at Trader Joe’s — the one where a disgruntled fellow-customer yelled a drive-by insult at me and my kids (not the only, but certainly the worst incident we experienced there) — I find I’m afraid to shop there. Yes, afraid… not because I can”t stick up for us but because it was a horrible experience and one I don’t want to repeat! EVER! (Though I realize I’m not likely to be that lucky.) When I do find the need to visit that particular store, I tend to plan my trip so I’m there while my kids are in school (and when the crabby old ladies are shopping, unfortunately)… At least this way, I’m alone lest the maniac return to the scene of her crime to strike again. Still, somehow, it just feels wrong to shop there. I love the store! They have great food at great prices and the people who work there are nice enough though not extraordinarily so… But some of their clientelle just S!*$#!!!s (OK, I’m thinking in PG, now). And while I know it’s not technically the store management’s fault, if it were my store, I’d let that mean lady know she isn’t welcome if she can’t keep her irrational opinions to herself!
Dining at Wendys
In contrast, last night we dined like a King and a Queen with our Princess and 2 little Princes at Wendy’s! We LOVE Wendy’s. The kids love their burgers and fries and I think they have the best fast-food salad in town. Even better, the manager there treats us like royalty. He knows just what we special order for The Boys and when he hears it called over the microphone, he makes a point to come out to the dining room and say hello, happily calling out, “where are my boys?” He not only allows but invites the boys to swing on those wait- line rails (all done without disturbing other diners) and he delivers food to our table personally. He gets our challenges and embraces our whole family as valued customers. Seriously! Who could ask for more? Good food! Great price! Friendly and courteous personnel. It’s heaven on earth! A warm and fuzzy feeling of being welcomed instead of hunted! A diametrically opposite experience from Trader Joe’s every time!
And the pleasantries continued! After our wonderful dinner, we stopped over at a new, local fireplace store we’d heard about. Several years ago (before The Boys — and their Down syndrome — joined our brood), I’d visited a Fireplace store a few towns away and was very disappointed with the rude attitude of the salesman who apparently felt that asking questions about a several thousand dollar fireplace installation before purchasing was inappropriate. Since they were the only game in town at the time, I guess he felt safe behaving thus. But he was so rude that I came home, sheetrocked over the hole in the wall that accessed the chimney in our new extension and decided to wait. Hell if I was giving him my money! (Oops, PG-13.) Three years later, that wait is finally over! L&R Fireplace & Barbeque Center is open for business and I’m ready to tear open that wall and finish building the vision I had for my now not-so-new great room…. All because Rich, the owner/salesman, of this new establishment is a warm and courteous man who welcomed questions, had all the information we needed AND embraced my children to boot! You guessed it…. he’s the one getting my money!
The moral of my story? Life is too precious — read: I and my kids don’t need to be exposed to such… (ah, what’s the right G-rated word?) nonsense — and time and money are too hard to come by to spend even a moment or a penny supporting mean people running bad businesses. I know I must fight the good fight on behalf of my children with special needs. But, that only really has to happen when there’s discrimination going on. Otherwise, I think my practice of supporting GOOD businesses with GOOD people was sound before kids and so it is — even more so — after kids! Go where you and your children are welcome and, um… screw the rest of ’em (darn… R in the end)!
How do you handle it? Do you boycott those establishments who treat you, your kids and everyone else like garbage? And do you make sure you frequent those special places that make you all feel welcomed and good?
xo maggie
walkonthehappyside.wordpress.com