One Man’s Trash…
THE SUN IS SHINING, BUT THINGS HAVE CHANGED. There is a chill in the air that is here to stay until springtime. This seems to happen every year about this time. Where do I go to lodge a formal complaint?
I know that complaining doesn’t do any good. It is what it is. There is also that AA prayer about changing things you can and not changing the things you can’t ending with, “…and the wisdom to know the difference.”
That is the tricky part.
At this very moment I am sitting at a corner table in St. Arbucks. I see things that cannot be changed by me simply because I don’t own the place. I also see a few things that, as a customer, I can change, or at least say something to initiate change. For example:
I wish that they would put up some better artwork. What is on the walls now looks like it was done by someone in serious need of therapy. And a few basic art lessons wouldn’t hurt either. I can’t bring about a change on this. These are not my walls.
On the floor underneath the table near the door are the remnants of a muffin or coffee cake and paper napkins. It looks terrible, will draw ants and flies, and should have been cleaned up when the customer who dropped it all walked out the door. I have been here for 45 minutes and it was there when I sat down.
This is an example of a change where I can do something to initiate action. It is not busy in here now and I will mention the mess to one of the baristas. I don’t want to tell the Manager. I’d rather see one of the crew do it and have the Manager see them taking positive action.
This particular St. Arbucks is on the Corporate Schedule for a complete remodeling soon. Each store gets a do-over every ten years. I know that there will be changes, mostly cosmetic and Marketing Dept. driven, and that I will like some of the changes and not like others.
They can’t make the place any larger. It sits with the Kroger’s parking lot on one side, busy streets on two others, and a building on the fourth side. All of the changes will be in the already cramped indoors.
I have ideas about what their changes should be, but no matter how much I jump up and down, my ideas will not be heard. I know that and I accept that slice of Pumpkin Spice Reality.
I’m still trying to catch the eye of one of the crew so I can tell them about the mess on the floor.
Success! I was able to get the attention of one of the Newbies who thanked me profusely for pointing out the mess. I explained why I told her rather than her boss and she thanked me again. I know the boss here and, while she is tough, she is fair and notices proactive behavior by the crew. Time elapsed since I first noticed the mess: One hour and four minutes Now we’ll see how long it takes to actually clean up.
Uh-oh. The Asst. Mgr, a recent Business Administration Grad, is out with a broom and dust pan. And wouldn’t you know it – four students from the nearby college have come in and plopped their High-Functioning Asperger’s Valedictorian butts down at the table in question. This could now take days to remedy.
I don’t think I can keep myself focused on this much longer. I need a dose of silly. Maybe I’ll go home and watch ESPN – after a Kroger’s run and stopping to get a Dr. Pepper for my wife, the lovely and very Southern, Dawn.
Down the Hall on Your Left 