International House Of Apathy

How long would you wait for service before turning around and going someplace else? What is the maximum amount of time one should have to wait before at least being acknowledged?

So my wife and I walked into IHOP last night, to use a gift card she received for Mother's Day. The hostess stand was empty. 10 tables and booths were occupied, but no employees were in sight. After 5 minutes, I would have just walked away, but since dinner was going to be free, it was pouring rain, and I am stubborn, we waited. And waited. And waited... Finally, a server entered the dining area and at least made eye contact with us, but then proceeded to take orders from 2 different tables before coming over to us to say, "We'll be with you as soon as we can." It was a full 31 minutes before we were seated. Others entered the restaurant and left without anyone employed by IHOP knowing they were there. Several families stood in line only because their kids would be eating free.
                             
OK, so I get it. The restaurant is understaffed, overworked, and probably underpaid. But is that situation likely to change with such indifference when it comes to recognizing who is paying their paychecks? How many dollars were spent at nearby restaurants instead? Seeing a significant increase in sales might justify hiring more staff. How much effort would it have taken for someone to come over, take us to a table, apologize for the wait, and at least take a drink order?  It would have changed the perspective of the entire dining experience, not just for us, but for every person who left to eat somewhere else. The message would have been "We care, we are glad you are here. We know you have a choice in where to dine, and are thankful for the opportunity to serve you."  And believe me, there are choices! Hundreds of food choices within 2 miles. Instead, the message received was just the opposite - "Why do these people keep coming? If we ignore them, maybe they will go away. If they go, we won't have to work as hard!"

In this economy, a business simply cannot afford to be indifferent. At least not if they want to remain in business.

Au Revoir Monsieur Mitman

Mr. Mitman was one of my favorite teachers in high school. I was in his French class for all four years, in fact, I was the only student in his French 4 class in 1982-83. Because of this unique situation, my grade in class was based on me translating Paris newspapers from French into English, and creating articles in French for my newspaper.

I just learned of Mr. Mitman's passing on April 22nd. He had taught foreign languages at Wilson Area High School for 35 years, and retired in 1985. It is always sad to learn of the passing of a teacher who inspired me.  Au revoir, Monsieur Mitman. Repose en pais.

Heaven's Choir

Heaven's choir gained another member yesterday in Merle Haggard.

That choir is sounding sweeter every day it seems, as country music has lost quite a few legendary singers over the last 3 years - George Jones, Lynn Anderson, Jim Ed Brown, Sonny James... just to name a few. This is the music I grew up listening to, spending hours every weekend listening to the radio with my grandparents, and having the awesome opportunity as a young lad to see these legends perform in person, shake their hands, get their autographs...  So each time another passes beyond the veil, it is a sad time indeed. Not so much that I am sad that they are gone, but sad that another piece of my childhood has been taken away. I will always have the memories though, the music lives on, and Heaven's choir does indeed get sweeter and sweeter!

Pain and Adversity

Some faithful Saints face very difficult trials such as lifelong pain or one family tragedy after another. Some plead with the Lord and miracles happen. Yet at the same time, those equally faithful are not delivered. Their pleadings and striving do not result in a miracle. We can ask ourselves questions about why such intervention happens in one case and not another, Why are some spared and some taken? Why do some suffer so much and others hardly at all? Why does life seem so unfair at times? Many times we cannot answer those questions. God determines all aspects of revelation. We don't get to choose whether we are delivered from our trials any more than we get to choose whether we have trials or not or what form they take if they are given to us. What we do get to choose is how we will respond. We can decide if we will come through these experiences with greater faith and greater patience or if we will walk away doubting the Lord's power and love. ~ Gerald N. Lund

Missing My Hour Of Sleep!

Does anyone actually look forward to losing an hour of sleep every year when we "Spring Forward"? Imagine how much fun it would be if this yearly ritual occurred at 4PM on a Friday? Let's get the weekend started sooner! All those 9-5'ers out there would be thrilled! Not to mention how happy Sunday morning churchgoers would be to not wake up an hour early, especially those who have meetings as early as 6AM.

Or, we could just be like Arizona, and do away with "Daylight Savings" altogether!

A Note Of Gratitude

I haven't made this public until now, but I was given an extension on my life last Saturday by a wonderful co-worker. I was choking and having trouble breathing, and this young man stepped up and performed the Heimlich. I still ended up in the ER for over 2 hours, but I don't think I'd be sitting here typing today if not for the efforts of Alex Eckert.

My gratitude is greater than words can describe, to have someone come to my rescue, without a thought of ever getting something in return. With all of the bad we hear of in the world today, it restores my faith that there are still good people out there who care. Every day there are heroes who don't get recognized for their efforts. It seems the only people getting their "15 minutes of fame" are those shooting up schools or other manner of taking innocent lives. Thank you Alex, you are amazing!

Home Sweet Home

After being away and living in Texas for close to 5 years, I was given the opportunity to return to Utah for work. I just can't express how amazing it is to live within view of these majestic mountains!

The peaceful, comforting feeling I get from being "home".  The safety and security I feel now is amazing compared to the "stranger in a strange land" feeling I've had deep in the heart of Texas.