The Blue Haven

I’m more convinced than ever that a good reputation will in the end bring you great favours.

21 April 2007 was my high school’s prom. My prom date and I inadvertently left her corsage in the car and didn’t realize it until we had already given our tickets and went in.

Due to the popularity of teenagers drinking alcohol at this event in many high schools, ours specified that once we enter, we cannot leave, even to the car. So basically, I was beating myself up about how I forgot it and whatnot.

Refusing to be defeated by a memory slip, I asked the nearest teacher whether it was possible for me to go to the car park to get her corsage. Said teacher said it MAY be possible if I had an officer escort me out. So she referred me to an officer, who then referred me to the Senior Principal. This principal, though I have only talked to her once or twice already pretty much knew my name off the top of her head (it might have something to do with being one of the twenty-one people tied for rank one in my year). She sympathized and went with me to the officer closest to the car park and asked if it was possible for him to escort me out to the carpark and get the corsage. And then, she added “But I think he’s responsible enough to go on his own.” And because of that, I was able to get the corsage in less than a minute (I ran. If the officer was around, running wouldn’t be possible without causing him to suspect I was up to something I wasn’t supposed to do) and come back.

I don’t know how it would have turned out if the Senior Principal didn’t speak in my favour, but even so, I am eternally grateful.

The same, I would think, would apply to Credit Scores… of which I really need to start accumulating…

This is a follow-up to the last entry, “The Customer is NOT Always Right”

I went back to Borders in order to purchase a book required for my AP English Literature course: Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. On the way out of Borders to get to my car, I saw the aforementioned employee still working at the coffee shop. This brought me relief.

Prior to going back to Borders, my mother had a conversation with me about the brash customers that one encounters when in a business (she was a Business Major and once managed a restaurant during college). These customers are commonplace, I just never encountered them since last time. And because of that, my reaction and disgust was a little overdone. She also reasoned that, if the employee was doing a good job, then the manager would be more than reasonable enough to know that and would not fire or punish the employee for what was actually the customer’s fault. Although the manager may see fault in the customer, he cannot say it to the customer because if the customer leaves dissatisfied, he may spread bad news about the business (hence rendering my argument that the customer can just buzz off a stupid policy).

I’m glad that my mother was right, and that though there is injustice, there is still justice to balance it out.

Before I go further into this rant, I will make one thing clear. I’ve never worked retail, and after this event, I don’t plan to work retail. (EDIT: Unfortunately, my planned career choice - pharmacy - happens to be under my definition, retail… I should rephrase the above, but I’m too lazy to do so.)

Today, I was going around the Bay Area to finish up some preparations for my High School Prom. After eating lunch, matching up my tuxedo vest and tie with my partner’s dress, and ordering the corsage and boutonniere, I decided to go to the local Borders to grab a coffee/mocha and just chat. My other friend has so frequently called me to the Starbucks at Barnes and Noble to the point that I just needed change. That, and I like the atmosphere at Borders more than that at B&N.

So after parking, we went indoors and browsed the books before I got a Chocolate Mocha. The gentleman who was taking my order and brewed my Mocha was very courteous and friendly that I couldn’t help but tip him. Unbeknownst to me, there was another man who was standing by the pick-up counter on his cell phone. Well, I did notice him, but paid no attention and assumed he was just waiting for his coffee. And because of this assumption, I “cut” him and went to the register to order my coffee. Not too long afterwards, another man stood in line behind me, ready to order his coffee. I went to the island behind me to pick up some napkins before actually picking up my mocha when I suddenly heard a man shouting/arguing. I turned around to see the man with the cellphone shouting at both the man who was previously behind me in line and the man behind the counter working the coffee shop. Apparently, I had cut in front of him, causing the employee to skip him entirely to serve me first. Said employee immediately apologized and gave his reason: he was on his cellphone and in the pick-up counter. The aggressor (who I will now call “taaja” for “Typical Arrogant American Jerk that makes me ashamed to be American) did not accept the apology and immediately argued that it didn’t matter that he was on his cell phone, he was here first and should have been served first. The mbmil (Man Behind Me In Line) jumped in because it was his turn in line and here he was being cut by someone unfairly attacking the employee. Not only was this obliterating the calm atmosphere of a bookstore/coffee shop, but IT WAS DELAYING MY COFFEE DAGNABIT! So I tried to break this fight up, without success as “It has nothing to do with you, so mind your own business!” EXCUSE ME? You just accused ME of cutting you in your imaginary line and you say it has nothing to do with ME?

Eventually, it turns out he didn’t even want coffee at all and was trying to pay for a book. There’s an actual register at the front for those not interested in coffee who want to purchase a book for a REASON.

By the end of it, I was extremely irritated at how this customer apparently thought the world revolved around him.

Let us analyze this:

Accusation #1: He cut me in line!: Correct me if I’m wrong, but was I not in the line in front of the register and was he not in the pick-up area? Which do you think would be likely to be the area where he should pay for his book if this register actually accepted the money for his book? His argument? “Do I see a sign that says this is the pick-up area? Please by all means show me, smartass.” For goodness sakes, does everything have to be written out? This must be one of those idiots that put aluminum foil into a microwave simply because it doesn’t say right on the door of the microwave “do not place metal objects in this microwave.” Common sense! USE IT! If you’re not in line, you aren’t in line! If you’re here first but are not ready to order something and there’s someone who is ready to order, is the person who is ready to order supposed to wait until taaja finally makes a move? If the world worked that way, no doubt everything would be very inefficient. The employee simply did what was general business format. Serve those in line and ready.

Accusation #2: It does not matter if I’m on the phone!: He’s on the phone, doesn’t appear ready, etc. How is the employee supposed to serve this guy, assuming he was there for the right reason? This guy isn’t ready, he can’t order. Obviously, he would serve the person ready and waiting for service FIRST.

Implication #1: The world revolves around me, slave: I hate this about customers. Because of the saying “The customer is always right,” that is exactly what some customers think. This mentally allows them to think the world revolves around them, allowing them the ability and freedom to be as rude, brash, arrogant, and demanding as they wish to be, completely ignoring the fact that the employee who is servicing this customer is also a human being worthy of respect and dignity. This employee is not attempting to ruin the customer’s day, but is trying to do his or her best to satisfy the needs of said customer. When a person does something for a friend, common manners and courtesy demand that the friend offers some way of thanking the person or showing appreciation for such an act. Employees - especially those in retail or working as waiters and waitresses - are very similar. If he does not act in the best interest of the customer, they may lose their job. By doing a good job, he are paid and are able to support himself or his family. Other people have lives and should not be dictated by an idiot who believes himself >= (Programming Lingo for “Greater than or Equal to”) God.

Quite honestly, this guy wasn’t there for the coffee but for a service that could otherwise have been offered elsewhere in the store without having to wait. His attitude was “I really don’t want to do business with you, I just want to get the hell out of here.” I personally believe that if you don’t want the business, you have the right to get out of the store and never come back. I’ve done that with several restaurants who demanded that I tip for service I did not find satisfactory. I fully understand that one may require that tip to live, but I can only reward someone so much for not doing his job (as it should be and not some hyped up service that I demand because I - though I don’t - think I am of higher status than the worker). Upon business dealings, both the seller and the buyer are on equal terms with a coincidence of wants (how’s that for a Macroeconomics term, Mr. Longo?): The seller has the good, the buyer has the money. Both desire what the other has. The seller cannot be above the buyer, and the buyer cannot be above the seller. In a world of “equality”, there sure isn’t a lot of it.

Leaving the store and not coming back is a much better alternative. Both part ways without so much as a headache.

Upon thinking of what to write, I also came across another writer who believes that the customer is not always right. Check his entry here.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/11269337/detail.html

Hearing so much about teenagers dying in car wrecks, you try to ignore it, but it’s a sad fact. And even if you accept fact, you keep hoping and thinking that it would never happen to those you knew.

I have to rethink my position on this.

Bryan Truong was a great guy. Student Council, intelligent, funny at times, and just an outright leader. He only graduated last school year.

And after graduation, it all ends. Just like that, because of a speeding car.

The thought of it makes me sick. I mean, here’s a guy who many would think had a great future ahead of him. Then there’s a lot of idiots who - sadly in my opinion - don’t deserve to even walk this Earth, nor even be under this Earth. So many of them continue to live, and someone like him is gone before his schooling even ends. Life isn’t fair, and this is a PRIME example of it.

It’s the first time anyone I knew of my age has passed on. It’s a huge shock.

All I can think of right now is, did he feel anything? Did he see it coming? What thoughts rushed through his mind as the car crashed?

I can only hope he made it into the “great beyond.” I can’t believe he can vanish into nothing, despite what modern science says. I can’t believe that religiously, nor can I believe that mentally.

My details are still blurry. Was his car the one that sped? Was that the only car involved? Or was there another car? Was he at fault, or was he the innocent? Was drunk driving involved?

No matter. It is still a shame to see a life like that wasted by a stupid motorvehicular accident.

Almost makes me want to go live in an urban area where I can just WALK everywhere instead of driving over the entire dang town.

Over the course of mingling amongst my peers while in public education, I have become absolutely convinced that we have become desensitized to many issues that should under normal circumstances would be matters of concern.

Take for example, about two years ago: 2 April 2005. Pope John Paul II - one of the most revered pontiffs to have existed - had just passed away. Of course, many were saddened, even those that weren’t Catholic. However, a couple of students in my AP World History class (of which one would think the students would have learned some “cultural acceptance”) were making “pope jokes”. Many of us were upset about this. Yet these paltry individuals had the effrontry to play down a subject others took seriously. In the place of one in the “took this subject seriously”, I have to say, I was quite offended. Even if one were not to have much interest in the subject, one should not make comments that could offend others on sensitive subjects, especially about death.

In the past few years, my school has been on the news multiple times. Freshman year: Stabbing. Sophomore Year: Fight puts student in the hospital. Junior Year: I stopped caring - it became redundant.

Fast-forward to the present. A student reportedly left a cryptic, threatening message in the boys’ restroom. According to an associate of mine, part of it read: “Blood will rain in the halls on 3/8/07″. Investigations were pulled by the local liason officers and determined it a prank. Prior to this being labeled as a prank however, students were playing it down as if it were some hilarious, comedic monologue or something. Now, not saying that one should be supremely worried since it was in the end a hoax, but have we begun so desensitized to homicide and death that we begin to treat it as a huge hoax? I quote: “If someone does shoot tomorrow, I hope I get shot in the shoulder. That way, I get to live and say ‘Hey, that was pretty cool.’” When that person actually gets shot, I doubt that “Hey, that was pretty cool” will be the first thing to occur in his mind.

I also wonder, what causes these people to make such threats - empty or not. Does the prospect of taking lives excite these people? Or does it seem to be the effect that everyone will become fearful? If that is the case, these people don’t do a very good job, as seen by those masochists in the last paragraph. In retrospect, it may do us some good to not be fearful of every potential “terrorist” attack.

Perhaps these people believe that by striking fear into others, they gain fame and recognition. Doesn’t happen if people don’t know who it is. They should also take notice, no matter how large a school is, there’s still not a large proportion of the world that could even give a hoot about whether you threatened a school or not. Would the world’s leaders care if 3,200 students in a high school in the United States was threatened by one fatuous CHILD that believes that by attempting or threatening to kill his peers will mean he accomplished something? Somehow - despite the leaders emphasizing how they are representing the people - I doubt it.

But know this. If it turns out there’s any truth to this threat, I WILL live. I REFUSE to die before this comes out.