MY BLOG HAS MOVED

To my loyal, and most beautiful and wonderful followers. I've UPGRADED! I decided to create a blog that is really worth reading. Something that isn't the incessant rant found here.

www.christalcollette.com is my new blog URL!

Ciao! 

Manners 2.0

All right. Perhaps this post is being written because it's been quite the Monday. A good Monday, but Monday in traditional fashion.

I think I've posted about manners before. I'm not sure why poor manners infuriate me so. I think it is because it is a very clear indication of the downgrading morale in our society. Of the "give me, give me!" generation with their Transformers gummy snacks, and endless mind-numbing cartoons that teach nothing like Sesame St. did about 1, 2, 3, and how to treat minorities.

Moving along. Most of my posts are incited by actual events that transpire in my life. I would like to outline the few people who I encountered in Middlebury, VT today. These folks need to purchase the Rossetta Stone for Manners 2.0 STAT!

1. Jaywalking Jerk Faces (JJF for short)

I had three JJF's in front of my car today. Why are they jerks? Not because they were jaywalking (which I did plenty of at BYU-Idaho), but because they didn't give the courteous "thank you" wave. I'm sorry, but if you don't want me to turn you into New England granite pancake than you need to acknowledge that I slowed my jalopy for you to cross the street. It's just basic manners.

2. The "excuse me" Afterthought

If you aren't aware. Saying excuse me...after you've pushed me into a display of batteries in the local pharmacy is not proper manners. I'm pretty sure you're supposed to say "excuse me" BEFORE you push your giant lethargic frame into my personal bubble.

Which manners are important to you? Do you have similar stories?

Remember The Pen

Okay, enough with the depressing blog posts. It's time to get back to my selfish, cynical, and more comedic side as a writer.

Today I would like to point out the emphasis of remembering the pen. What does it mean to remember the pen? Well, this is a new term I've coined thanks to some poor service recently from some of our vendors at my work.

On more than one occasion a vendor has delivered something that I had to sign for, and forgot his pen. Apparently it is evident that I must be psychic and grab a pen each time the doorbell rings.

Remember the pen means to pay close attention to the little details of dealing with your clients. I add to this, terrible email communication.

Please don't write the body of your email in the subject line. Especially if you work for a technology company. One might say these are pet peeves, but I feel their general peeves, and quite frankly...I would like to put peeves on layaway for a day when I am less busy at the office.

Back to the pen-less vendor. When the scruffy jump suit wearing, doe eyed, 40 something year old man handed me the paper to sign, I said "Do you have a pen?"

Vendor "no"

To which I replied, "you really should have a pen on you..."

Vendor, "It's in the car."

I went to get a pen, at which point I signed the document, then I turned to him and said, "do you need this?" Yeah, it was snarky...and a bit rude. But you know what's rude? Making me walk 100ft to grab a pen because you don't care enough to remember the details.

A bit later, the Account Manager for this vendor came to visit me. She was visiting per an email I sent earlier asking for more information on something. She brought a giant book of information. All the information I could ever dream of knowing about this vendor. BUT she couldn't answer my questions. She didn't do the research, and thus wasted a good 30 more minutes of my time trying to find the answer in her big book of information. I've now learned to never have a big book of information. Also, who still carries a big book of information? Isn't that what the web is for? Show me a small page of information on an iPad.

I digress.

There went 40 minutes of my life because they didn't remember the pen.