Are You Being Served...Politely?

It happened to me again today.

I say again because it's happened many times before, and with increasing regularity.

It's happened to you too, I'll bet.

Rude store clerks.

Now, to be clear I'm not saying , "Go f*&# yourself", rude.

I'm saying, "You, Mr. Customer, are inconveniencing me", rude.

I stopped for gas and the dude behind the counter couldn't be bothered to stop jabbering on his cell phone long enough to even ask if I wanted to use any of my collected points. He just kept blah blah blahing away and merely motioned to me when it was an appropriate time to swipe my cards.

Had I been a regular customer at this establishment, I would have made a note to his Manager.

But it's happened before, and more frequently.

Gas Bars, Corner Stores, the Buck Store... a lot of places, come to think of it. 

I know what it's like to serve a customer. I drove a Taxi and had a cell phone long before call display. If it rang when I had a customer, I either didn't answer it, or told the caller I'd call back. It's the same now.

So I am adopting a new strategy: if I come into your establishment, and you are too rude to put the phone down, I'll wait. If you motion to me to input anything, I'll say, "I'll wait until your not too busy to serve, me, the guy who is giving you money for your service and making it possible for you to jabber away on that $200 smart phone."

Then I won't go back if I can help it.

DJW

Huh?

As you all know, I've been involved with Capital Works Infrastructure (fancy words for roads, sewers, watermains) for many years.

I've been to many meetings where contract interpretation is all about how you hold the page.

I've taken courses in contract law to teach me how to hold the page.

We were at a meeting today where the people who wrote the page couldn't demonstrate how to hold it.

This time, it wasn't involving work, it was involving home...and Zoning Bylaws.

Zoning Bylaws are those laws that you don't know affect you until they affect you.

In one breath we were told it met the Bylaw, and the next breath, it didn't, but the Bylaw need to be amended.

In the next sentence, it was an addition, and it wasn't.


As far as I'm concerned,  it either fits or doesn't fit, pass/fail, or what ever you want to use for black vs. white. 

And the person making the argument for the pass was the person who signed the fail. 


I'm confused, but then I only have a College Diploma and many years experience.

Forgive my confusion...

DJW

I can't go into more detail, but yes, it is in regards to The Little Patch Of Grass.

Circumstances Beyond My Control...

Ever have one of those days?

I woke up this morning to -20C temperatures. Not unusual this winter. I work outside. I dress for it.

I packed my lunch, my thermos of coffee and my cup to go and headed out the door into the cold darkness of 6:00 a.m. to start my 60km, 45 minute trek to work. Also not unusual.

About 6:30 and past 1/2 way, circumstances beyond my control began.

My car started to bog down, and by the time I made it from the left lane on the highway to the right shoulder, it stalled.  Otto V. Dub is 13 years old and has more than 450,000 km on the ticker, the odd breakdown can be expected. I have the auto club, so I'm prepared.

The Auto Club answered quickly, and was eager to send me rescue. The lady on the phone was a little confused about my location at first, but after 3 tries she seemed to have me locked in. There is a jog between the north and south bound legs of the highway I am near. I'm just past the northbound exit. The south bound exit is 7km behind me. The phone lady tells me a truck is on it's way, and will be with me somewhere between now and 7:15 a.m.

Unbeknownst to me, whilst I was on the phone arranging my tow, more circumstances beyond my control were unfolding about 2 km ahead of me on the highway.

Transport truck, 3 cars, rollover, fuel spill.

Their day just got a whole lot worse than mine (radio reports that injuries were minor, thank goodness)

I see the traffic slow to a stop, and the radio keeps me informed of what's going on up ahead. I know I'm going to be  here a while now, so I go into action. I kill the hazard lights (not needed now) to spare the battery. To keep the heated seat (worth every penny!) active I cycle the ignition, 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off timed to the traffic reports.  I dig into my work bag and break out my spare gloves, spare socks, snow pants and thermos. Spare gloves into my coat to keep them warm, spare socks between the heated seat and my seat for the same reason.

Next traffic report states that the highway is now closed. Tie up behind me is now 10km. Time to change socks, gloves and have another coffee. Circumstances beyond my control.

This just in...the on ramps in the area are now closed. Circumstances beyond my control.

Repeat calisthenics. Preserve coffee supply.

I repeat this cycle as required until the phone rings at 7:45. It's the Tow Truck Driver. He can't find me. Dispatch sent him to the southbound exit, 7 kms behind me, and he is now stuck in traffic too. He can't use an alternate because the on ramps are closed, remember? And every other driver is clogging the city streets trying to get around the mess.

Circumstances beyond my control.

Just after 8:00 I called the Auto Club back to see if it was them or the Driver that messed up. It was the Auto Club. I told her I was a dissatisfied customer at the moment. Or words to that effect.

Minus 20 Celsius remember?

Had I been less prepared, hypothermia would have set in and I would be in need of an ambulance by now.

At 9:00 a.m. I call the Tow Truck Driver back to see how stuck he is. He is 2 km behind me now. Any minute.

At 9:30 a.m. the truck finally arrives, which is a very welcome relief.

Relief being the key word. Empty thermos = full bladder.

Just 5 minutes shy of 3 hours on the side of the road in freezing temps, in circumstances beyond my control.

As the Boy Scouts say, "Be Prepared"

DJW

...and you think swimming in cold water has adverse effects on the male anatomy?

You think that's cold?

The following entry was inspired by Lorraine Sommerfeld's Motherlode column posted Dec 30th, 2013

It was March Nineteen-Eighty-Something when 3 Soldiers left Brantford for Meaford in a 1951 2 1/2 ton 10 wheel drive Command Post, converted to use as a Supply Vehicle.

I was driving, my best friend in the middle, and another Supply Tech in the co-drivers seat.

It took 3 persons to operate that truck as the transmission leaked so badly you had to add fluid on the fly. A case of fluid under the seat, and a trap door in the floor to access the tranny filler.

We were in shirt sleeves.

North of Guelph the weather started to turn. Rain, then sleet. The vacuum operated wipers failed, and had to be operated manually via the little levers inside. I needed every inch of the 3 foot diameter steering wheel to keep that beast under us, so it was the guy in the middle who had to operate the wipers.

The defrost and heat didn’t work, so the 3rd guy used a squeegee to keep the windshield clean on the inside.
Somewhere near Arthur a spray of fluid (I won’t say beer) covered my glasses. When I took them off my glasses broke in the middle.

On a downhill run.

Buddy One fished my spare pair out from my parka pocket.

Near Owen Sound, it had turned into a full force Bruce Blizzard. Buddy 2 on the outside started to shiver badly. It was another 30 – 45 minutes to Range Rd Diner at the bottom of 7 Mile Hill. When we got there, Buddy 2 was hauled into the ambulance and treated for hypothermia. Buddy 1 left to join his Gun Crew.

That left me alone to get that overgrown wagon up the hill, with no wipers or heat.

 I did the only thing I could do, backed up a full concession, pulled my balaclava down over my face, took a swig of rum, opened the windshield up, kicked in the 10 wheel drive, said a Hail Mary (and I’m not even Catholic) and let her rip.

They said that when I broke the gate at the check point at the top, all 10 wheels were spinning and they could see the icicles on my glasses and mustache.

That, my friends, was cold.

DJW