PEEVE DU JOUR #1

Pet Peeves. Those small annoyances that you encounter everyday that fester in your brain unless you put them out there and clear your head. Things that get overlooked or tolerated because they're hardly worth the trouble of dealing with on the spot or at the moment. Except that the offending party, the dolt, the oblivious ass goes on about his business without consequence for his conduct. Unless someone points it out to him, he'll continue to behave the same way for the rest of his life until someone reaches the breaking point and his actions become the final straw on a huge stack of little annoyances. This is a potential source of road rage, going postal and hissy fits. The raging, postal hisser wasn't like that until the final straw was dropped and then 30 years of pent up tolerance erupts in a blaze of fender-crunching, stamp-licking, hair-pulling caterwauling.

Unless... you talk about it, share it with fellow raging postal hissers.

In no particular order because there are so many of them, here's

PEEVE DU JOUR #1

My friend assured me that a certain Yogurt and Ice Cream store in Malibu, California, had the best frozen yogurt, so we stopped to find out if it was true. Now, I realize serving yogurt to Malibu residents at minimum wage may not be the dream job if what you really want to do is DIRECT but if I were a producer, the guy behind the counter would never set foot in a studio.

As we stepped up to place our order the guy leaned forward with half-lidded eyes and a face devoid of expression. My friends says, "We heard you have the best yogurt, so we drove out here to try it." No reaction. "What can I get you?" he asked, without moving his lips. My friend asked something about items on the menu, at which point he turned to the menu and, with all the enthusiasm of a moist napkin, read it while facing the menu. I couldn't hear a thing he said because he was talking to the menu with his back to us. I almost said something but I didn't want to spoil the experience that we had driven 25 miles to have. We paid, stepped out to the patio and enjoyed our yogurts. But all I remember about the place was that guy.

Hint #1: When a customer pays you a compliment, say "Thanks," and smile, whether you mean it or not, whether you own the place or not. You represent the people who made the yogurt, the people who delivered the yogurt and anyone in the supply chain who depends on asses like you to sell the product so they can keep their jobs. And it makes the customer feel good.

Hint #2: When you talk to a customer, face them so they can hear what you're saying. Eye contact helps.