Recently I accompanied my husband on a work road trip to the sleepy town of Tuscola Illinois located just south of Champaign and west of the Indiana border.  On the way there, we checked out Trip Advisor to see if there was a hotel we could stay at and anywhere to eat.  Flesor’s Candy Kitchen jumped to our attention.  Opened in 1901, the diner and candy store are now being run by Ann and Devon, The Flesor Sisters.  It is a great little place with the original beautiful dark wood fixtures, antique tile floor, 1947 marble soda fountain, and a brass cash cage station.  It was like stepping back in time to walk into this building.

Devon, part owner of Flesor's Candy Kitchen

I came in and was immediately greeted by a woman washing glasses behind the old phosphate fountains.  There was a flurry of activity everywhere.  As I sat at the counter to look over the menu, I heard the woman orchestrating the other workers.  “Eric can you bring up another tub of ice cream?”  “Sara please help behind the candy counter.”  “Jessica can you deliver these malts?”  First I realized that the woman who greeted me was actually Devon, one of the owners.  Second, I was amazed that the staff, ranging in age from high school students to a woman who jokingly said she is going through menopause for the third time, was all cross-trained.  They moved seamlessly between waiting on tables, delivering food, bussing tables, cleaning tableware, running the register, boxing individual candy orders, hand dipping chocolates, and making malts, sodas and sundaes.  Plus they were having fun!  They even encouraged the entire diner to sing happy birthday to a little girl.  And it wasn’t the cheesy corporate restaurant obligatory song.  It was heartfelt.  Even through the hustle and bustle and some minor mishaps, the tone of the group was positive, helpful and considerate of their patrons and each other.  It was really an amazing experience and a joy to be in an establishment where the workers worked hard and were still real people who you would like to be around.

My husband and I experienced similar excellent service during a brief layover at the Holiday Inn in Dallas Fort Worth.  The driver of the free shuttle confirmed that we were going to the correct hotel before loading up our luggage.  The desk clerks confirmed our reservation, offered us a snack, and took care of our request to store some items in the restaurant freezer without batting an eye.  Requesting and receiving a 4:00 am ride back to the airport was again no problem (for the staff at least).  The chef even came out to our table honestly wanting to hear our thoughts about his new creation.  I couldn’t remember the last time every element of an overnight stay was phenomenal.

Could this be a resurrection of the dying art of customer service?  Do you know of any other businesses which still understand and embody true customer service?  Share your story with us here.

My husband and I purchased a house built in the 1960’s from the original owners.  Over the years we have made many improvements.  Our next project is slated to be remodeling the upstairs bathroom.  It is definitely in need of a refresh.  The tub is yellow with blue and green non-skid fish appliqués scattered here and there between the ghost-like remnants of their fallen brethren.  There are two mismatched vanities mounted to peeling and cracking painted walls.  And the pièce de résistance is the green woven carpeting covering the floor.  Needless to say, this room definitely needs to get a retrofit.

Because this is an older bathroom it has separate hot and cold water faucets in the shower.  Code now requires a single faucet because separate faucets can lead to unintentional scalding water and injury.  We have gotten pretty good at manipulating the faucets so we can enjoy our showers but it takes some time to get the temperature dialed in just right.  It is interesting though.  The hot water is pretty consistent.  If the volume of hot water is a drip or full blast, it still feels the same.  The cold water acts differently.  The more volume the colder it feels.  And the cold water is the key player to regulate the temperature overall.  No matter how much hot water is pouring in, the final temperature depends on the amount of cold water added.

The same goes for my mood.  My positivity and joy are, for the most part, consistent.  But how happy I feel depends on the amount of cold water I throw on my day.  The more I focus on the negative, on what I don’t have, on what went wrong, on any sadness I am experiencing, the more this cold water diminishes any good I am feeling.  It can take the best day of my life and, as they say, throw a wet blanket on it.  So what to do?  If we keep in mind my antique shower, turning up positivity, optimism and joy really won’t get my anywhere.  What I need to do is turn the volume down on the cold blahs to allow my hot joy to flow freely.

To lessen the wet blanket of negativity, the first thing I need to do is catch myself in the midst of it.  I need to sharpen my awareness.  When am I turning a neutral story into a negative one?  When am I joining into the pity party of bad traffic, low paychecks or whatever other negative stories are being shared around the water cooler?  When am I being sucked into the downward spiral of blechiness?  Once I become aware that the cold water is turned on, I need to take steps to stop the flow.  I can look at the story I’m telling myself and turn it around by searching for any good I can find in it.  I can lessen the power my negative thinking by remembering other times when the current bad issue did not exist therefore seeing that this too shall pass.  Sometimes just changing the subject or distracting myself from the negative story can break its power and turn off the flow of cold negativity.

If your cold water is running too hard, maybe it is time for a mental remodel.