Dexter was pleased with the article he was about to post on the website. The title of the article was, "The Customer is Always Right?" The question mark in the title was the whole point of the article. The past week had been spent interviewing people who worked in a service capacity. Some of the stories they told were very interesting.
One waiter had relayed a story about the time a woman yanked on his arm while he was walking past her table, carrying a tray of food for another table. The tray had spilled over the woman. She had complained to the manager about his incompetence, demanded to have her dinner comped, and a gift certificate for dinner at a future time. He'd had to pay for all of that.
Another waitress spoke about a family in which the teenage girl had believed she was royalty, as a result of her father calling her 'Princess.' The girl had ordered the most expensive item on the menu. When asked about her preference in salad dressing, the girl began telling her parents a long story about something or another without ever answering. The waitress was left standing there trying to get the rest of the girl's order.
Finally, the girl looked at her and said, "I'll get to you in a minute. I'm telling a story here." The father nodded his head with a vacuous smile on his face. The mother looked embarrassed. The daughter's behavior only got worse as the meal progressed.
Another waitress told about one family that had kept her fetching and carrying almost to the exclusion of allowing her to serve other customers. First it is was to get a clean knife after someone had dropped one on the floor, then water, then rolls, then more rolls, then extra napkins, then one of the kids spilled their water, and the list of errands just kept increasing. They complained that the salads weren't presented artistically enough. The husband sent his dinner back after he over-salted it. According to them, nothing was done correctly and they had never had such horrible service. It was the smirks on their faces when they made their demands that really had irritated the waitress.
Another waitress complained about the drunks who came into the diner where she worked. She was tired of being fondled, pinched, propositioned, and generally harassed. She wondered how those men would feel if some guy did that to their daughter.
One manager of a restaurant told about a family that allowed their five year old kid to stand on his chair and scream for a solid thirty minutes without making the least attempt to quiet the child. The family sat around the table as if there was nothing wrong. It was so bad that other customers were leaving. When he had asked the family to leave, they had gotten belligerent. How dare he criticize their child? Their attitude was that if other people had a problem with how the child behaved then it was the problem of those who were complaining. After all, kids will be kids.
Dexter relayed those stories with the comment that service was a two-way street. Not only was having a good server required, but so was having a good customer. Manners mattered. Servers in service industries were people trying to make a living, and deserved respect. They weren't slaves.
He admitted there was a fine line between being a demanding customer and being an asshole. One way to keep from crossing that line was to be polite. Simple words like 'please, thank you, you're welcome, and excuse me' went far to keeping one on the correct side of that invisible line. Compliments were always appreciated.
A good customer recognized when a server was extremely busy, and would wait patiently for service, at least to a point. It was a balancing act, and people made errors. Over-reacting to poor service wasn't appropriate. Applying a standard of service above that expected for an establishment, wasn't fair to the employees. A diner would never provide the kind of service one might find in a five star restaurant.
After reading over the article, Dexter posted it on the web, hoping that it might get some attention. He had gotten quite a few emails about how he blamed only the servers for bad service. It was only after talking to the full waitstaff of a restaurant that Dexter truly appreciated some of the issues servers faced.
Dexter turned to Amber and said, "That's done."
"Your afternoon is free of appointments," Amber said.
"You mean I have a free afternoon?" Dexter asked.
He had given her complete control over his schedule. It wasn't that she ordered him around, but that she freed him to focus on what was important. Essentially, he went where she told him to go. Fortunately, she hadn't told him to go to hell yet.
"Well..."
"Well, what?"
Amber said, "I think Calvin is looking to talk with you this evening. You might do one of your front porch beer-fests."
"That sounds okay to me," Dexter said.
He rather enjoyed those occasions when he and his neighbors gathered on the front steps of his apartment for a quick beer and a little conversation. He and Calvin always had things to discuss. He found that Mary was a fascinating person in her own right. She had interests in topics that he never considered. She challenged him to keep up with current events. Xavier remained somewhat of a mystery. He would occasionally join them, but preferred drinking wine to beer.
Dexter said, "Remind me to pick up some wine and beer on my way home."
"Pick up some wine and beer on your way home," Amber said while looking down at her notebook.
"I meant for you to remind me when I left here."
"I'm leaving early today," Amber said.
"Why?"
"I have a date," Amber said. Seeing the uncertain expression on Dexter's face, she said, "A real date with a guy."
"Nice. Is he anyone I know?" Dexter asked.
"No," Amber said.
"I hope you have a good time," Dexter said.
Amber said, "I hope so, too."
"Where are you going?" Dexter asked.
"I don't know. That's the guy's job," Amber said.
"I guess so," Dexter said feeling a little sheepish.
"Yes. Well ... I want to go over your schedule for tomorrow so that you won't be surprised should I come in late tomorrow."
"Hit me with it," Dexter said knowing his Wednesday schedule by heart.
Amber said, "Tomorrow morning you have your standing meeting with Eric."
"I know," Dexter said.
"You have a lunch appointment with Janet at the Silver Cockerel," Amber said.
"I do?" Dexter asked surprised by that. He didn't remember making any kind of suggestions that they meet tomorrow for lunch.
"Yes," Amber answered.
"Why?" Dexter asked.
"Because I said so," Amber answered jokingly.
"What are we supposed to talk about?" Dexter asked.
Amber stared at him for five full seconds.
"You're partners in a business. Talk about business. You told everyone else at the company to have lunch together occasionally, in order to build a better working relationship with each other. As management, you and Janet should practice what you preach."
"I can do that," Dexter said.
"You might also remind her that you're scheduled to have a date with her Friday," Amber said.
"Where can I take her?" Dexter asked.
"I found a nice place with dancing," Amber said.
"She'll enjoy that," Dexter said.
"I know," Amber said. "You'll spend the afternoon here. Don't forget that you have a conference call scheduled with Ed at three in the afternoon to discuss assembly issues."
"I almost forgot about that," Dexter said.
Ed and Dexter were trying to decide whether to start their own assembly plant for the coffee makers or to give a contract to a company here in the states that could do the work for them. Ed was leaning to starting their own assembly plant. Dexter was concerned about the demand being sufficient to employ a factory full time. In the short-term, the costs of having their own assembly plant were higher, but would save them money in the long-term.
"I'll remind you again tomorrow," Amber said. "You might want to examine the issues before leaving this afternoon."
"That's a good idea," Dexter said.
"That's it. I'm done," Amber declared.
"That was quick," Dexter said.
"I'm going now. I have to get pretty for my date," Amber said.
"You're already pretty," Dexter said.
"That's nice of you to say, but I've got an appointment for a manicure and to have my hair styled," Amber said while getting up from her chair.
"Have fun," Dexter said.
After Amber left, Dexter picked up the folder with his notes concerning the assembly issues. He waded into the material trying to find a convincing argument to contract out the work. There was one thing about which he was adamant. The work would stay in this country. There was no way he was going to send it overseas.
Lost in his research, Dexter was surprised when the telephone rang. He answered it using the speakerphone capability, without checking the caller id.
"Go home, Dexter."
"You're not Amber," Dexter said staring at the phone.
"Amber asked me to call you. She's under the hair dryer," the woman said.
"Oh," Dexter said.
"Don't forget to buy beer and wine on your way home," the woman said.
"Thank you," Dexter said.
The woman hung up the phone.
Mary walked up the sidewalk to the apartment. As usual, her eyes were watching everything at once. She visibly relaxed when she spotted Dexter seated in front of his apartment door.
"Would you care for wine or beer?"
"Wine," Mary answered with a grin.
She had come to enjoy the times spent on the front patio with what she considered to be, 'The Gang, ' if three others could be considered a gang. It was one of the few times she felt safe outside her apartment. She viewed Dexter as being safe. Xavier wasn't interested in women. Calvin had taken it upon himself to be her protector. She could sit there, surrounded by men, and be sociable. It was nice.
Dexter poured a glass of wine for her and set it down on a little table.
She sat down and said, "I haven't seen you around much."
"I've been busy," Dexter said.
"I've been watching for any news about your company, but there hasn't been a thing in any of the papers or trade journals," Mary said.
"It's too early for that. We've just about finished the design work, and we're looking into what's required to manufacture the coffee makers," Dexter said.
"If I can help, let me know," Mary said.
Dexter wondered if she could help him find a company that would do the assembly. According to Charlie, she was pretty good at researching investment opportunities. She'd be able to find a company with good potential at about the right size to grow with his business.
Xavier came up the steps. Without waiting for Dexter to ask, he said, "Ah! Wine! Nectar of the Gods! I could really use a glass."
Dexter poured a glass of wine, and held it out for Xavier. "Did you have a bad day?"
"Somewhat. We had a guy at the shop who was picking on Robert," Xavier answered.
"Robert? Isn't he the guy who is openly gay at your shop?" Dexter asked.
"Yes," Xavier answered.
Dexter said, "The world is full of assholes. It's a shame that some people find it impossible to understand people who are different than themselves."
"You can say that again," Xavier said. "I've got the scars to prove it."
"You don't have to talk about it," Mary said.
"Here comes Calvin," Dexter said hearing the motorcycle turn into the parking lot.
"We'll talk later," Mary said to Xavier.
She knew that Xavier was still worried about Calvin. Even she had to admit that Calvin, wearing his motorcycle leathers, didn't look like the kind of guy who would have much tolerance for alternative lifestyles.
Whistling, Calvin walked up the sidewalk carrying his motorcycle helmet. He didn't look surprised at all to find the others seated in front of Dexter's apartment.
Dexter grabbed a beer and held it out for Calvin. The young man took it. With an easy twist, he removed the cap from the bottle. Dexter watched the action thinking that was something else that had changed in the world. Men didn't carry 'church keys' anymore. His father had always carried one with him.
Calvin took a sip of his beer and sighed in contentment. This had been a very good day and having a beer right now was the perfect beginning to what was going to be a good night.
He said, "I've got some news."
"What?" Mary asked.
"I'm getting married," Calvin said.
"Who's the lucky woman?" Dexter asked dead panned.
Calvin stared at Dexter and then realized that Dexter was teasing him.
"Who do you think?"
"Mary," Dexter answered.
"Mary?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. She's not marrying you. She's the lucky one," Dexter said.
Dexter smiled up at Calvin. Mary and Xavier burst out laughing. Calvin shook his head and chuckled.
"I'd like you to be my Best Man," Calvin said.
"Who, me?" Dexter asked.
"Sure. Samantha is going to ask Amber to be the Maid of Honor," Calvin said.
"I'd be honored," Dexter said.
It was strange, but Dexter had never figured that he would be the Best Man at someone's wedding. Until recently, he hadn't had a social life that would have made it possible.
"Give us the details. When is it? Where is it? Where's the registry?" Mary asked.
"Whoa!" Calvin said. "I just proposed. The rest of it is up to Samantha."
"I hope she does the whole church wedding bit. Ceremonies at the town hall are so lame," Xavier said. "You might as well go to Vegas and get married by Elvis if you're going the town hall route."
"Knowing Samantha, we'll do the whole church bit. You're both invited to it," Calvin said.
Nervously, Xavier asked, "Can I bring my friend?"
"Why wouldn't you bring him? You love him, right?" Calvin asked.
Too choked up for words, Xavier nodded his head.
Calvin said, "I'll expect to get invited to your wedding."
Edited By TeNderLoin