It’s really okay to provide

customers with service!

      A town, the town I live in, that I transplanted to from a lifetime of neurotic urban sprawl, is–will wonders never cease– a town where total strangers smile and wave to you as you drive by at 25mph. People actually talk with you in stores, on line at the bank or post office (there are no elevators in this town, but if there were, I’m sure no one would be staring vacantly at the floor numbers).

     Other towns I’ve been in (try the lower half of New York, and virtually anyplace in New Jersey, for example), when you stop your car for a railroad crossing train to go through, the first move is to close your windows and lock your doors; the second is to watch nervously in your side and rearview mirrors. You know, for the boogyman!

     In my town, passing trains actually prompt people to get out of their cars and walk around and say “Howdy! How you likin’ this weather?” or if your plates are from out-of-state, “Just passing through, are you? Need any help gettin’ where you’re goin’?” or if there’re kids in your car, “There’s a great hot dog place up ahead, near the ocean; kids all like goin’ there.”

     Here is a town where people hold doors open for other people behind them, even if they’re 10-15 feet back! In this town, when you dial a wrong number, the person answering is likely to say, well it’s nice talkin’ with you anyway, and you have a nice day now, y’hear?”

     Neighbors make time to stop and chat, but respect your schedule if you look like you’re in a rush. And none of this matters, by the way, whether you’re old, young, black, white, or purple with yellow polka-dots. By the way, we’re not totally in the sticks; we do have three traffic lights, and we are only half an hour from one of the biggest tourist cities in the U.S.

     The two square-block downtown is a hodgepodge of dilapidated remnant buildings, left over from zero variance days, so it’s not the manicured, symmetrical, organized, architectured, yuppy storefront suburb town with coordinated brick and mortar and smoked glass windows that mark increasing numbers of American towns. But you know what? It doesn’t matter because no one who lives here cares. And there’s only one “For Rent” sign.

     Folks still shop at Joe’s Hardware, creaking their way down wood-floored aisles hunting for a 19-cent cotter pin, and the local “dollar store” for bargains. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we all love the new BJ’s discount shopping club because prices are better and our friends all work there, but there are no chain restaurants unless you count a couple of fastfood stops on the outskirts.

     People here work hard, many on some kind of farm or in some farm or (being 15-20 minutes from the ocean) tourist-related business. And the bottom line is that businesses here are not suffering as much as most other places around the country.

     Why? A few hundred reasons. Here are two: 

1) People at work charge forward with their heads down and their eyes and minds focused on what’s in front of them doing the best they can “here and now” and doing what needs to be done, instead of dwelling on past upsets and injustices or worrying about working 30 seconds past 5pm, or tomorrow’s chores. And when they’re not at work, they’re busy being kind to one another.

2) People support one another in business and in life, even those they compete with in the marketplace. They share news, weather reports, births, deaths, celebrations and meals together. Businesses support the community and the community supports the businesses. Now, there’s a notion!

Need I say more? What could your business and your customer service efforts learn from this lifestyle, and this town? Give it a couple of minutes thought. You might surprise yourself!     God Bless You and Good Night!    halalpiar     

  CLICK ON  Posts RSS Feed FOR YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO THIS BLOG

    ADD TO THE DAILY GROWING 7-Word Story started 185 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.