A few days ago, my wife and I stopped to pick up a late bite at a local fast food shop that's part of one of the country's largest chains. We don't do that too often, but I like fast food, not the places themselves, though my wife's not really a major fan at all.
Anyway, it was eight-thirty in the evening or so, and I waited in the car while my wife went into the shop to order. She later returned with a bag of stuff, and was shaking her head as she spoke. She said something like, "I can't believe it, but there was only one person at the counter in there, and she was serving the customers at the counter and handling the drive-up window, too. It took a really long time to get our order."
When we got home, she gave me two items, one a burger, the other something else and she herself had a "special" new entree sandwich she told they'd been promoting in ads on TV. There were also a couple of accompaniments.
Well, after two bites of her special, my wife frowned again and said, "I can't believe they sell this stuff, I think my sandwich contains cardboard or plastic." Then she took a bite of my sandwich and told me it was dry and tasteless too. However, the burger and sides seemed fine to both of us.
Then a few days later, my wife sat down at the computer with a look in her eye that I know well, and she began typing. The result was a letter to corporate management of this huge international chain of stores, recapping our experience -from the lack of service to the dissapointing food.
Now, to my surprise, a few days later a restaurant general manager called, wanting my wife to recap our experience, so he could educate himself and benefit from our displeasure, in return for which he promised to send us a gift certificate to use as we chose.
Then, today, the certificate actually showed up, along with a personal letter. Now, again, this is from a General Manager servicing twenty-five stores in the greater metroplolitan area of New York. I've re-typed it word for word.
"I appreciated speaking with you today and thank u for offering me some Valuble insight into my business. I assure u that you're comments don't fall on Deaf ears it truly matters. Please accept my sincere apology . I have enclosed a Gift card for u to use at any ****. I do hope u will return to my location To see that is not how we do business. Looking forward to seeing you soon and Again thanks."
Now, the food issue is one thing, and I think the manager's approach to this situation is laudible, sincere and certainly good for business. And although in our case, we would have gone back anyway and written that night off to simply a bad day for them, it's quite nice that the manager took the extra step.
But now to what really struck me. I have to assume that this person manages a couple of hundred folks, and as described is employed by a major, international chain. And I understand that their primary objective is to sell food, not write letters. But, you'd think someone at that level knew something about language, grammar and perhaps, even sentence structure. But, I guess not.
Yet, the one thing the letter proves above else is, that for those determined to succeed, the horrible, disgrace of a job done by the country's teachers doesn't matter a whit. The folks willing to work hard and who want to succeed will do it despite them.
That's it for today folks.
Adios
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