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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

On the road again




Good morning from beautiful Knoxville, Tn. We are traveling on our way home, and not in any particular hurry.

Yesterday we left High Falls State Park in Ga. If you have the opportunity to visit this beautiful park, I highly recommend it. We always stay on the River side, and it is very shady and quiet. A wonderful, relaxing experience. We stayed there while we were preparing for my last show in McDonough, Ga. The Geranium Festival is one of my favorite shows, as the crowd is always so welcoming and appreciative. I didn't set the world on fire, but did make about $25 more than last year, so I consider it a win. And with this being a major fund raiser of the Lions Club, I know the money is put to good use for charitable events.

So Monday, we closed up our camp and headed north on I-75 towards our destination, Ohio. We were doing very well and wanted to make it through Knoxville at night to avoid the traffic. We hoped to touch base with a fellow artist that was staying above Knoxville. Perhaps have a glass of wine or at least a cup of coffee this morning, but a flat on my van in Lenoir City, Tn stopped us. Luckily there was a great staff at the TA truck stop garage got me fixed up and ready to travel again. We decided to call it a night and just dry camp at the Flying J. They have wonderful spots sized for campers and motorhomes and we just pulled in one and spent the night.

Right now we are having our morning coffee and getting ready to travel further north. Don't know if we will make it to Ohio today as we are just driving at a relaxing pace, and it is over 7 1/2 hours to home. But we will get there when we get there. No hurry, my next show isn't until Memorial weekend, so relaxation is the theme today.

Hope to talk to you again soon.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Customer Service, a lost art


I am noticing a lot of hype about customer service. Seems everyone knows that something is lacking, but I fear they do not know how to rectify the problem. From the clerks at the market, to the representative on the telephone, to the youth of today, personal interaction has taken a backseat to perceived efficiency.

The young kids all use electronic devices to talk back and forth, to bank, to pay their bills, this bringing about a large group of individuals that cannot look you in the eye and say, Good morning, how are you today?

Yesterday while at the drive up ATM window at the bank, I noticed the person in front of me was a friend of my nephew. He was definitely making a deposit. The bank was open, several windows were available at the time, but he chose to go to the ATM, which did actually take him a lot longer than had he went to the drive-up window. But that would have involved human contact.

I spent over 25 years in the customer relations field, and I see a terrible trend developing. How as a nation can we continue to grow without human interaction. Getting to know our fellow neighbor or just a greeting to another person.

As a child I watched the Jetsons. What a great life, with machines doing our everything beckoned wants and needs. Did I ever see the Jetsons interacting with other humans outside of work? Did I ever see a dinner party or someone stopping by just to say hi? I don't believe I did.

So today, make it an extra effort to ask someone how they are doing. Tell them to have a nice day, but most of all, look someone in the eyes when you do it.
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