Just Give `Em the Pickle!

In this era of progress, customer service is a lost art.  That might seem like an obscene thing to say, as you might be able to recall the sales clerk you have a tendency to ask for, or the waiter you like to have serve you, but have you ever thought to ask yourself why to prefer to have these people wait on you?  Is it due to the fact they truly are attentive, or is it that their co-workers aren't as attentive.

If a person is to succeed in customer service, they have to be willing to give `em the pickle.

Don't laugh.  I know what I'm talking about.  Or, more specifically, Bob Farrell does.  He's the founder and former owner of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlors.   He's now a motivational speaker, and he got his start as a speaker due to a letter from an irate customer.  The man was upset, as he'd always requested an extra pickle, and all of a sudden, the girl at the register wanted to charge him for it (a ridiculous fee, to boot.)  He walked out of Farrell's, swearing never to return.  Mr. Farrell not only personally answered the man's letter with an apology, he sent a good amount of coupons, imploring for the man to return.  But no one tells the story as well as Bob Farrell:

As he said, he, an extremely wealthy man, is constantly learning from those he talks to.  And Farrell has learned over the years:  One does not have to be in retail, or a restaurant business, in order to 'give `em the pickle.'  It doesn't even have to be a money-related thing a person does.  But we are all capable to handing out pickles in one form or another.

Before you crack  you don't like pickles, or  I'll probably give you dill and you only like sweet or vice versa, think - - - it not only is nice to have someone do something for you, it also never hurts to take the time to do something for someone.

So just give `em the pickle.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Can Anyone Explain?

Currently, a fan of the San Francisco Giants is in the hospital, due to being attacked by someone who was a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Opening Day.  The man had texted to a friend just moments before that he was afraid.  The doctors have said the man has suffered from brain damage and faces a long road.

Here in Oklahoma, a man was wearing a University of Texas shirt in a bar.  As a result, he got into a fight, the other man tearing his private parts, and a lawsuit coming out of it.

A joke has been running around for years about a coach reminding his players about not shouting at the umps, not swearing, not fighting, etc.  When they say they remember, he tells them, "Good.  Now go in the stands and tell your parents."

What has happened to sportsmanship?  What has happened to fun among rival fans?  In 1985, I was visiting my cousin in St. Louis, wearing a Cubs t-shirt I'd purchased the day before (at Busch Stadium, nonetheless!).  The Cardinals were playing the Montreal Expos, and vendors were going throughout the stands.  I wanted something for my nephews, and purchaed an Expos cap.  The man in front of me heard me say "Expos" and turned around, saying, "Expos?  Expos?"  He then saw my shirt, and shouted, "Cubs?  Cubs!?!?!?!?"  I pointed out I was from Oklahoma, as my cousin merely shurgged, and said, "I don't know him.  He just slipped into my box."

Well, the rest of the game, the man kept giving me funny looks, but I knew it was part of his game.  I played along, and we both had fun.  When the game was over, he turned around, shook my hand, and said, "You know I was kidding."  I told him I enjoyed every minute of it, and I've rememered it for twenty-six years.

Today, I'd be put in the hospital.  Sportsmanship is looked upon as unmanly, for the weak.  In short, it's dead.  We have taught an entire generation not to get along with others, to kill them on the 'field of battle,' forgetting that all sports were originally intended to be games.  And while there are many definitions for the word 'game,' the first one is 'activity engaged in for diversion or amusement.'  We have forgotten that over the years as people fight under the stands or in bars over whose team is better.  If they're going to fight, let it be over something of more importance than a game, for pete's sake.

We need to grow up.
                                

Remember When The Audience Had Wits To Match?

A long, long time ago - - - When the top songs for the nation were being sung by The Carpenters (Please Mr. Postman), Barry Manilow (Mandy) and Frankie Valli (My Eyes Adored You) - - - When Johnny Bench was still playing baseball, and Nate Archibald still thrilled people on the basketball court - - - and John Wayne was making a film with Katharine Hepburn (finally!), I was enjoying a show that I caught each and every week.  The narrator invited us to "match wits with Ellery Queen."  I'd rush to the television without fail, and of course, never be able to guess who the killer was.  And the network did what they always did with my favorite shows . . . they cancelled it

After one season.  Not the way to endear oneself to an eleven-year-old, but I persevered.  Yet, I never forgot 'Ellery Queen,' for some odd reason.  It made me a fan of Jim Hutton, whose teaming with David Wayne seemed to be magical.  As Hutton says when he 'breaks the fourth wall' each episode, the clues are always there in front of us, so we should always be ahead of them.  Yet the episodes can be complex and hard to figure out - - - until you see how Ellery solves them. 

In short, the show was brilliant.  It was also tasteful, and something you could watch with the children.

We don't have anything like that on television anymore.  Or in the movies. 



The show wasn't above anyone's head.  Like I said, I was eleven, and loved the show.  When the one season came out on DVD earlier this year, I discovered a good amount of people who enjoyed it as well. (If that's true, why was it cancelled?)  It was entertaining, with a good amount of humor, yet made you think without tackling your brain too much.  All you had to do was watch.

And the guest stars was literally a Who's Who:  Anyone who's interested in film history needs to watch this show.  Watching the guest stars makes a film buff wish they'd been on the set with an autograph book. 

The gentlemen in charge of the show created 'Columbo,' and 'Murder, She Wrote,' among other TV staples.  But 'Ellery Queen' will always be their crowning achievement as far as I'm concerned.

The entertainment world needs 'Ellery Queen' today.