It's been a while

I lost track of the blog while attempting to change the world, but world-changing has proven to be an exhaustive effort...so I'm back to blog. And so the cycle continues.

Here are some random thoughts:

• In an effort to avoid heels-related injuries, I took a cab the distance of a football field. This is not unusual for me, but the cabi's pleasant response certainly was. These several-hundred-foot drives usually end in a screaming match. I will never understand this response from a person working in a service-related industry. I might have given the guy a $100 off-the-books tip for a $5 ride, but he'll never know that because he acted like an a-hole and yelled at me the whole way.
• Husband and I went to the Celtics last night. It was a business meeting for Husband and I was along for the ride and some free pinot grigio. The low part of my evening was a desperate (and successful) attempt not to vomit in the backseat of our driver's car. Our average speed throughout the 10 mile trip was 90 and involved lots of weaving.  It was so bad that I offered to take a $50 cab ride home to avoid a repeat performance but that didn't pan out (I had an extra glass of wine to help with the return trip). The high part of my evening was witnessing a mature, well-dressed man in front of me yelling "You're the bomb!" at the Celtics strippers...er...I mean dancers. Hilarious. From the look of him, this man is very high powered and was wearing a $2500 suit...but I shop at Marshall's and TJ Maxx so what do I know?  People watching at sporting events is simply fantastic.
• A random man in Boston Common started talking to me yesterday about getting fired and then deciding to start up his own painting business - all in the same day. If that's not a "can-do" attitude, I don't know what is. The guy was so enthusiastic about his future and all of the doors that were opening for him, that I actually got a little carried away in the moment and my mind went back to my craft-fair-business-idea. No, I'm not crafty...but the people who frequent those things will buy anything. There's got to be a painted-rock business in there somewhere. Long story short, this man pulled out a business card of a guy who works in my organization and went on and on about how helpful and positive the man was, and how he helped to change this guy's life. It reminded me why I do what I do. And I immediately sent a note to that guy's boss, bosses boss and up to the top. It's called performance recognition. Ever heard of it?
• Let me tell you this:  Customer service is so simple and so effective. I just can't understand how the rest of the world hasn't figured this out...well, except for Disney.  My son peed on the floor of a Disney store recently and the lady continued to smile while wiping up the pee...now that's customer service. In light of my appreciation for these efforts, I am making a commitment to blog about every business that I encounter who offers exceptional customer service. And when I get a new job, I'm going to add those with bad customer service to the list too (you hear that, a-certain-cable-company-that-shall-remain-nameless?).