My Job, It’s Not A Love-Hate Relationship

Some people are incredibly lucky, they love their job!  For them there is no better way to do something they are passionate about and collect a paycheck for doing it.  For many, they hate their job, it is a never-ending struggle to get from the first day of work to the last minute of the work week.  For those people, it is just about the paycheck that they simply can’t live without.  I mean, as my Grandfather put it “work” is just another four-letter word, so why would someone love it?  I have had a few jobs over the course of the last twenty years, some I have enjoyed, some I have struggled through, none I can think of that I loved.
All of my jobs have been customer service centered.  Sure, I “flipped” a few burgers (actually we would run them across a conveyor belt) and I made my fair share of pizzas (let me tell you, the ovens that move the pizza through are WAY easier than the stone ovens!) but for the most part, my jobs have been more about taking orders, filling requests, appeasing the customer that has felt their service was less than adequate.  Don’t get me wrong, I was raised when the world still believed “the customer is always right,” however that has proved to be so far from accurate that it had caused me to be overly sympathetic to the general service person, even when the “server” was indeed the person doing things below standards.
Here’s the deal…  True, if we were to treat others as we would like to be treated the world would be a better place.  Maybe the guy waiting tables had a horribly stressful day due to family matters, do you really want to upset him because you didn’t get a drink refill before your glass was empty?  Maybe the gal counting back your change made a mistake with her cash handling because she just didn’t do that well in math but she is trying her hardest at what she is doing.  Maybe the man or woman you are complaining to about whatever went wrong with your order or purchase had been up all night with a new baby or sick child?  Would knowing these things make a difference in how you talk to people?  Sure, if you see your server hanging out at a particular table of like-aged people and they are clearly not doing what they are supposed to, it’s natural to get angry, but what are you most angry at?  That they are ignoring you or that you actually need them for something?
I am not in a job that I love, but I am doing a job I actually like.  Well, most days.  I am able to help people by scheduling appointments or answering questions, I have a reasonable amount of paperwork to complete and I have the freedom to work in an office or at home while I take care of my children.  It’s one of those jobs that has good days and bad days, and the fact that I work for my father can take either of those types of days to an extreme!  But so can the customers…
We’re a straight-shooting kind of family.  I have a tendency to either say it “as it is” or just keep it to myself.  Let’s just say that I don’t try to overwhelm people with information if they don’t appear to be able to process it.  Dad, not so much…  He will tell it like it is and will say it just like it is.  In his job, things are just facts, the condenser needs a part, the furnace needs to be replaced, the thermostat is poorly designed.  In many ways that is actually a good thing because he is the technician.  He’s the guy that when things are not working right, or just plain broken, can and will fix things.
Perhaps we were all raised in some fantasy world where we believe that you should never stop learning things.  There is always something new to educate yourself about.  Before I worked for my dad, if I had a question, whether it was homework or how to install a ceiling fan, he would walk me through it.  He taught me how to drive and explained how a manual transmission worked.  When I needed central heating and air conditioning, he handed me a crawl suit and showed me how to use a jackhammer.  When I wanted a new hot tub at my own house he talked me through running the electrical line and hooking it all up so that I wouldn’t electrocute myself.  Yes, those are all things I have done.  We’re a family of “doers”.  If I need something done at home, a shelf hung, a filter changed, a leaky pipe under the sink to be tightened up, I will grab some tools and do it myself.  Just the way I was raised!  So I guess since that is the way I was raised, it makes sense that my dad will try to explain to customers why something isn’t working the way it should be.  Every so often he is met with blank stares and simple nods.  I wish I could teach him to just smile back and walk away, but at this point he is quite set in his ways.  He will still try to teach that person who is only half-listening, about how and why their heater or air conditioner isn’t working properly.  And later on I will get a call from the “well meaning” family member that has to ask all the same questions my dad has already answered, and then some because I need to explain “why” he said what he did.  Really?  I have to tell you WHY he said you shouldn’t turn your air conditioning below 70 because it will cause the unit to work properly?  Which part don’t you get?  Oh!  It’s the WAY he said it.  Because he spoke English?  Because he didn’t whisper it in baby-talk?  Because he didn’t do an interpretive dance?
Here’s the deal, you may not like the way my dad speaks to you.  It will probably be more because he is straight forward and doesn’t candy-coat it because we are not diagnosing cancer.  There is a reason he is not a doctor or a nurse.  His tone may not be “overly” pleasant, but that is because he is a grown man and doesn’t run a daycare.  I get it, you want someone that is going to take your order with a smile.  We live in a society that has taken “Your way, right away” to an all new level.  The fact is, that is not how this industry works.  You want someone that is going to talk to you in hushed tones like they are telling you a bedtime story?  Call a big box store.  The person they send to you will talk softly and slowly and they will sell you whatever they can for more than double what it’s worth.  And people will continue to buy it because the sales person was such a “nice” guy.  Let me tell you, he’s nice all the way to the bank!
Me?  One reason that I can love my job?  Because we do things they way they make sense, we tell people how it is, we don’t candy-coat it.  My dad will treat his customers just like he always has, he will talk to them like they are family and we will treat you like family, we won’t rip you off.  My family consist of a lot of people that prefer my dad’s way of doing things, they like people to tell them how it is, what the bottom line is, it’s just how we do things.  We may not be smiling all the way to the bank with your life savings, but I can tell you that we get repeat customers and referrals based on the fact that we are an honest, hard working, family company, and our consciences are clear at the end of each day that we didn’t screw someone over.