It’s that time of year once again. A nostalgia, a sense of melancholy. Remembrances of past glory. Yes, it’s time to start letting our summer plants, our garden experiments, the joyful blooms of the season, go – like rolling the credits at the end of a movie. It’s time to let the greenery turn brown and drop off. To clip off the dead stalks. To wait silently for the leaves to change color, which they will inevitably. And then they too will morph from bright colors to coppery browns before they’ll drop and become . . . . well, mulch.
Continue reading “It’s time to say goodbye . . . . .”Dead Bodies Everywhere
Yes, now that I have your attention, I didn’t mean to mislead that I was writing about a natural disaster. Perhaps I should be, but it’s about those actors whose role is, well, to play a dead body at the beginning of a movie or television show. When the detectives are called in, there is the body – lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen, or sitting in an armchair in the living room, a large knife sticking out of his or her chest. Someone slumped over a steering wheel, riddled with bullet holes. Even the award-winning movie, “Conclave”, opens with the deceased pope lying in his bed in the Apostolic palace. Natural causes, of course, but still . . . . . an actor whose contributions to the film won’t be nominated for an Oscar.
Continue reading “Dead Bodies Everywhere”What the heck happened to summer?
Yes, each year I write a wistful reflection that I call “Ode to Fall”. I’m not feeling it this year. This weekend is Labor Day, the “official” close of summer, and I’m unprepared. When I was teaching, I was acutely aware that summer lasted a week or two. A teacher friend once commented, years ago, that summer “was all downhill after Fathers’ Day”. Another teaching acquaintance referred to the large Rose of Sharon as the “oh, sh. . . plant”, because its blossoms heralded the start of school. Ok, that was bound to happen. But now that I’m retired, summer can extend itself for as long as possible. I’m ok with that.
Continue reading “What the heck happened to summer?”Advertising: Out of Control?
Many of my faithful readers know that I’ve written about commercial advertising, and the seemingly endless bombardment. Back some time ago, I wrote that, if you’re as old as I am, television was essentially free. Of course, the choices were far, far fewer, but it didn’t cost anything beyond bunny ears or an antenna in the attic. If you pointed it in the right direction, you got some sort of reception. Every show had its commercials, and that was ok, because it paid the bills so we didn’t have to. At the end of each show, particularly game shows where prizes were awarded, there would be a list of the advertisers that presumably paid for the prize money. Thank you, corporate contributors, to our entertainment.
Continue reading “Advertising: Out of Control?”Surveys: Don’t Ask the Questions. . . .
if you don’t want to hear the answers. One of the first blogs I wrote, way back in 2019, was about business’s insatiable desire for feedback. Whether or not they’ll actually take our ever-helpful suggestions is another matter. But the point is, they pay many people – sometimes independent consulting firms, a lot of money to gather information about our transactions and our overall perception of them. A number of them, I should think, would want to keep their dealings with us under wraps. For example:
Our daughter spent the past year living at home while she completed her doctorate in preparation for a college teaching career. I’m happy to let you all know that it happened, and she’s now in Atlanta, Georgia, preparing for the new year at Emory University. Our joy and immense pride aside for a moment, we put her worldly possessions in a storage unit for the year, awaiting dispatch to its new location. She moved in in August, 2024, with her things in a local place that family members had used before. We actually moved out of that unit this past week, closing out the account. Shortly thereafter, the company that owns the buildings, and from what I understand, they newly purchased it, sent me an online survey to complete. Here’s what they wanted to know.
Would I use their facilities in the future for our storage needs? I told them honestly that I probably would not. And here’s why.
Reason #1: They have listed on the door that their office will be open from 10 AM to 5 PM each day, Monday to Friday. The person I managed to find in the office indicated that, in addition, they’re closed from 1 – 2 for a lunch hour. Sounds reasonable. Part way through the spring, however, I noticed that the credit card I’d given them to bill expired long about April. I went to the office no less than five times, during office hours – some mornings, some late afternoons as I was driving by, to update the information. Every time, the office was closed and the blinds drawn. When I finally found it open, much to my surprise, the young man on the desk informed me that he was actually covering multiple properties, necessitating sporadic office and usually unannounced closures. The check-out process too was delayed until I could find him actually on the premises.
Reason #2: We experienced two, not one but two rate increases within the year we occupied the unit. The first was about three months after we’d moved in. I did receive a notification that it was going up. The second, however, was this spring, and I wasn’t aware of it until I checked the charges and it was more than it had been. The young man in the office told me that emails had been sent out to announce the rate change, but I didn’t receive one. All of their other notices came through. One asks why this business would need to increase prices mid-year. It’s a building in which our things sit. It’s not like they have supply chain issues, or the cost of food or transportation will affect them.
Reason #3: We moved out a few days after the storage was charged, early in the month. I had let them know when we’d be moving, and asked about a rebate or a prorated charge for the month. I was told, “we don’t do that.” Really? Isn’t that fairly common practice among those renting out space? An apartment is typically prorated, so why not a storage unit? I ended up paying for the whole month, and to quote our good friend, Lady Peacock, “I’m not happy.”
Will the vital information with which I’ve provided feedback be taken to heart and used to make policy changes? I’d like to think so, but I seriously doubt it. And my guess is that someone in some office somewhere will indicate to their colleagues that “we shouldn’t have asked him.” Once again, as we used to say in dealing with our children, don’t ask the question if you don’t want to hear the answer.
Meanwhile, I went to the bank yesterday to get some money – more than the ATM could provide. The teller was very nice and helpful. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I actually talked to a bank teller. Anyway, the bank sent me a survey, asking how it went. It was fine. I gave her the account number and my driver’s license, and she gave me my money. To quote a former president, “Mission Accomplished”. She didn’t ask me for a birth certificate, passport, or voter registration information. Just quick, clean, and simple. So, in comes the survey online from the bank. “How was your experience with us?” I checked off that it was fully satisfactory. No voices raised, no foul language or nasty behavior. All in all, very good. However, once I checked that off, foolishly thinking that when I hit “submit”, that was the end of it, nay, nay. It went on. Five or six questions about the teller. More about the facilities. Well, I had to stand in line, but as I was the only customer in the bank, and its employees outnumbered me, it was fine too. The walk-through maze was short because, as I said, there wasn’t much foot traffic. At that point, I clicked off the survey, so I have no idea if letting them know that my visit was satisfactory even went through.
Customer surveys are becoming the norm in the business community, and there is seemingly no way to cull the ones that really are unnecessary. We have services too to which customers can reach out. Yelp, Trip Advisor, and the like. They all invite us to provide feedback on our experiences. When I’m buying something online, say from a noted vendor that I won’t name (let’s just say the owner recently had a lavish wedding in Venice), I will typically check the buyer responses to see if there’s anything useful. Often there is, comments that give me insights into the product, like “the motor is underpowered, so if using for . . . . . “ to “I just wanted to . . . . . ., and this worked very well for me.” Great. That’s all very helpful. The ones that often surprise me are restaurant comments. Some eateries that we like and use regularly will get some really negative feedback. Were there real problems with the food or service, or are these people unduly fussy?
Nobody will, of course, be happy with everyone or every business with whom they’ve had contact, or as we now say, “an experience”. That’s unreasonable. Something will go wrong, and human nature being what it is, we tend to overemphasize the negative and ignore the positive. Surveys will therefore have perhaps a disproportionate number of negatives, and we should understand that when we screen them. The question remains, though. Do these folks asking us to survey their goods and / or services really read them and take corrective action, or do they just go through the motions, satisfied that they’ve done what they could? Because if it’s a half-hearted routine, don’t bother us. Like an attorney in a courtroom, you shouldn’t ask a question unless you already know the answer.
Things I don’t want to see . . .on TV
Whether it’s shows or commercial advertising, there are some things I just don’t need to see. Call me old fashioned, or outdated, but I really don’t understand what the folks making some critical decisions about what streams out onto my tv screen are thinking. And worse, I have to ask myself, “are there people that actually like to see this stuff?” There must be, because they’re appearing on the screen.
Continue reading “Things I don’t want to see . . .on TV”More on the Art of Returns
Some years ago, I wrote about returning items that, for one reason or another, just don’t work. Sending back items has become substantially easier, what with so many of us doing our shopping online. Vendors have made it easier to return items by putting them back in their boxes and dropping them off at a pick-up center. No personal interaction, no lengthy explanations. Sometimes you can indicate what was wrong – it came too late, it was damaged in shipping, whatever. And you can even check off “other”, and in the box write: “I changed my mind.” Even your refunds come back quickly – no waiting until they receive the item. Just pass “go” and collect . . . .
Continue reading “More on the Art of Returns”Our Fascination with Exotic “Pets”
I don’t understand it, myself. Most wildlife belongs in their natural habitat. Other than the woodchucks and rabbits that feast on my gardens, which may be considered by others to be their natural habitat, but I don’t. Some animals have been domesticated – dogs, for example, or house cats, or the occasional gerbil or goldfish. Others are work animals, like oxen and mules. People keep horses for riding, pulling carriages, or jumping over fences, and I get that. Cows, sheep, and goats are sources of food. But does it really make sense for humans to “collect” exotic animals that aren’t designed to be house pets?
Continue reading “Our Fascination with Exotic “Pets””July 4th: Again, thoughts on Independence and Patriotism
In full disclosure, I posted this last July 4th. But much of it still seems relevant today as we all look to the future and try to figure out what’s important to us as a country. On the news last night, a recent poll indicated that only 63% of the respondents said they were “proud to be Americans”. That’s down significantly from a decade ago.
Continue reading “July 4th: Again, thoughts on Independence and Patriotism”Robbing from the. . . . .poor
We all know the legends of Robin Hood and his band of outlaws. According to the legend, he was born a nobleman but experienced the inequities of society and decided to correct them. Whether or not Robin was real or fictional, the notion that the bounties of society are not distributed equally has always been with us.
Continue reading “Robbing from the. . . . .poor”
I'm Thinking...No! 