Inside Out

File this one under "Boy, Do I Feel Stupid".

I work a part time job at Target as a stocker. I go to work at 3:00am, three days a week to unload freight from a truck then stock the shelves with merchandise. On Friday, I went to work as normal, by putting on my uniform of tan pants and a red shirt, kissed the wife goodbye, and headed off.

I reached work, clocked in, and unloaded the truck. Then, before starting the stocking part of the job, I went to the restroom to wash my hands (unloading is such a dirty business). After the washing of the hands, I happened to glance in the mirror and noticed that my red shirt was inside out.

Now, this sort of thing has happened to me before. I'm not the most observant person in the world. Especially with the "tagless" shirts they have nowadays. But normally, my wife will point out these little fashion errors to me before I become a public laughingstock. However, this time she did not. Also, the people I work with at Target seemed not to notice. Either that, or they are having a fine laugh at my expense, behind my back. Normally though, these are the type of people who enjoy making fun of you to your face. Often. Constantly, even. So I really think no one noticed that I had my shirt inside out for almost two hours.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself. I'm just glad the store doesn't open until 8:00am. Because, boy, then I would REALLY feel stupid.

A Timely Response

Prompt customer service is a sticking point with me. I am a good tipper, but the service has to be good. I do not reward bad service either in restaurants or retail establishments. I bring this up only because of a response I received recently to an inquiry into a possible vehicle purchase at Courtesy Nissan in Richardson.

You see, I had an auto accident that totaled my Mazda Protege, so I was in the market for a new vehicle. We had used the internet primarily for our auto search and had sent requests for information to several dealers in our area; Courtesy Nissan being among them. My wife received an email from Courtesy stating that they were ready to deal with us and we should contact them forthwith.

Now this all sounds like a smooth, efficient transition until you add in the time line. We received the email from Courtesy on September 25, 2009. My auto accident occurred in September 2008!!! Our inquiry (in the form of an email) to Courtesy was sent on October 14, 2008! If you do the math, that's 346 days for a response; a mere 19 days short of 1 year!

That's what I call a timely response.