Thursday, March 10, 2005
Ron Wolf, Moses, Alfred Hitchcock, and Me
I made a decision earlier, this week. I took a stand. It was in the coffee aisle:
I will no longer accept the TAR that they call coffee and serve in styrofoam cups at my place of business.
No offense to my employer, who pays my bills, causes me stress, and serves me such poor -- albeit free -- coffee. But I've had enough. There is a time to sit back and accept a package of free dog shit. And there is a time pull out a big, black marker and write "RTS" on said box.
RTS, dog shit. RTS.
So at the time of this great decision, I could choose the Jewel Value brand, some other big name brands . . . . And then it struck me: this is not about getting the best buy. This is about bringing quality to the workplace. Like Ron Wolf brought sanity back to the Packers, like Moses brought his people to the promised land, like Hitchcock brought order and sensibility to the screen . . . so shall I bring quality to the second shifters.
Yes, indeed. I passed these big-name brands: if I'm going to bring coffee into work, I'm going to bring the best. Freshly ground. In the fancy bag with the ribbon. Hazelnut. Hand-roasted.
And let me tell you, friends, when I brought the coffee out on the floor of the call center, heads turned. Hazelnut wafted into the air. This was not our regular, smells-like-someone-just-burned-a-tire, slop. No. Quality had come to second shift. I was holding it.
Oddly enough, my neighbor-cube-rep decided she'd had enough also. She'd brought in quality also. Hear what they say about great minds. She trumped me, however, bringing cups -- real, glass cups. No more styrofoam for us. No more taste of cheapness and pollution right up against our lips.
It was a day to stand up, to pay more, to instill jealousy, and to drink real coffee, damnit. Kids are in college, studying business right now, wondering what it will be like to work in the "real world". If only they knew the real struggles.
I will no longer accept the TAR that they call coffee and serve in styrofoam cups at my place of business.
No offense to my employer, who pays my bills, causes me stress, and serves me such poor -- albeit free -- coffee. But I've had enough. There is a time to sit back and accept a package of free dog shit. And there is a time pull out a big, black marker and write "RTS" on said box.
RTS, dog shit. RTS.
So at the time of this great decision, I could choose the Jewel Value brand, some other big name brands . . . . And then it struck me: this is not about getting the best buy. This is about bringing quality to the workplace. Like Ron Wolf brought sanity back to the Packers, like Moses brought his people to the promised land, like Hitchcock brought order and sensibility to the screen . . . so shall I bring quality to the second shifters.
Yes, indeed. I passed these big-name brands: if I'm going to bring coffee into work, I'm going to bring the best. Freshly ground. In the fancy bag with the ribbon. Hazelnut. Hand-roasted.
And let me tell you, friends, when I brought the coffee out on the floor of the call center, heads turned. Hazelnut wafted into the air. This was not our regular, smells-like-someone-just-burned-a-tire, slop. No. Quality had come to second shift. I was holding it.
Oddly enough, my neighbor-cube-rep decided she'd had enough also. She'd brought in quality also. Hear what they say about great minds. She trumped me, however, bringing cups -- real, glass cups. No more styrofoam for us. No more taste of cheapness and pollution right up against our lips.
It was a day to stand up, to pay more, to instill jealousy, and to drink real coffee, damnit. Kids are in college, studying business right now, wondering what it will be like to work in the "real world". If only they knew the real struggles.
