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Do nice guys finish last?
Jan. 5th, 2006 07:23 pmI know I've been on the receiving end of nice gestures in the past, but recently, it's hard to keep that in mind. It seems more and more that going out of your way to help someone is merely an invitation to getting a kick in the teeth.
Poster child: Our recalcitrant tenant in Seabrook. He is behind two and a half months in rent and nothing has been deposited yet this month. Unlike the storied landlords of popular fiction, I am not immensely wealthy and if I do not get a payment this month, I will be in the tightest financial straits of recent memory. Drew needs some money to close on a house; Natalie deserves a birthday present. The way things stand now, not only will we be unable to help our own kids, we will instead be borrowing money against our credit cards - again - to pay for this deadbeat to live in our house.
Runner up: The store client who brought in a box for shipment that was leaking oil. We repackaged the contents and sent it per the client's instructions, which included a summary dismissal of our suggestion to insure the package, which was being sent by postal mail. Sure enough, the package has not made it to its destination. And sure enough, the reason the package has not done so is because we must have screwed up somehow.
Various and sundry: There has been a steady stream of clients through the store over the past few days complaining of having "left" their stamps on the counter after buying them. And we're supposed to do what, exactly? Why, reimburse them! One woman came in today, claimed she left her stamps on the counter, could not produce a receipt (though she offered to show us the change from her ten dollar bill), and, well, got pretty huffy when we suggested that this was not our problem. In the end, Drew and I gave her replacement stamps just so she would go away.
And while the vitriol is flowing, I must mention that we continue to bleed money owing to idiots who insist on charging $2 purchases.
"Would you happen to have cash? It's a pretty small charge," I said to one customer, who had just made a whopping $1.52 purchase.
"No!" came the emphatic answer, "I'm collecting frequent flier miles!"
Ye gods.
Cheers...
Poster child: Our recalcitrant tenant in Seabrook. He is behind two and a half months in rent and nothing has been deposited yet this month. Unlike the storied landlords of popular fiction, I am not immensely wealthy and if I do not get a payment this month, I will be in the tightest financial straits of recent memory. Drew needs some money to close on a house; Natalie deserves a birthday present. The way things stand now, not only will we be unable to help our own kids, we will instead be borrowing money against our credit cards - again - to pay for this deadbeat to live in our house.
Runner up: The store client who brought in a box for shipment that was leaking oil. We repackaged the contents and sent it per the client's instructions, which included a summary dismissal of our suggestion to insure the package, which was being sent by postal mail. Sure enough, the package has not made it to its destination. And sure enough, the reason the package has not done so is because we must have screwed up somehow.
Various and sundry: There has been a steady stream of clients through the store over the past few days complaining of having "left" their stamps on the counter after buying them. And we're supposed to do what, exactly? Why, reimburse them! One woman came in today, claimed she left her stamps on the counter, could not produce a receipt (though she offered to show us the change from her ten dollar bill), and, well, got pretty huffy when we suggested that this was not our problem. In the end, Drew and I gave her replacement stamps just so she would go away.
And while the vitriol is flowing, I must mention that we continue to bleed money owing to idiots who insist on charging $2 purchases.
"Would you happen to have cash? It's a pretty small charge," I said to one customer, who had just made a whopping $1.52 purchase.
"No!" came the emphatic answer, "I'm collecting frequent flier miles!"
Ye gods.
Cheers...
