Photo Friday: the little things that tick me off

I don't ask for a whole lot in the morning, usually. My basic criteria for a successful morning is a glass of OJ, an hour of quiet, and my newspaper. That hour of quiet is the reason I get up so damn early, before everyone else in the house. If I can get at least half of that hour by myself then I can tolerate most anything the more cheerful members of my household can lob at me.

By that statement you can assume that I am not a morning person. Never have been, never will be.

Because I like for things to go according to plan at 5-freakin-30 in the morning, I expect that there will be at least enough OJ for one glass and that my morning paper will be on the stoop. If my paper isn't there I get irritated.

Like this morning.

Back when our little podunk paper was locally owned, there was a number you could call to notify them when you didn't receive your paper as usual. Someone was actually sitting in the newspaper offices at six in the morning just for that purpose. They would offer to bring you a new one or credit your account, and in the wee hours of the morning that was as close to vindication as sometimes I got all day. But now our paper is owned by a big conglomerate and they've taken everyone out of the office early in the morning. Now you have to wait until "business hours" to call and report your missing paper, and while they will still offer you a new one or a credit, it's just not the same.

Hmm. Maybe what this post is about is not that I didn't get my paper this morning, but that I don't get the customer service I used to.

I think if we all got more bend-over-backwards customer service we'd all be a lot easier to live with.



-- Mox