Cafe Hitch-hike

2004-12-05

Simply ask.

What luck! The college will reimburse me for half of my moving expenses (they only pay for VPs and high-ranking faculty). Heh-heh, all I can say is it sure as hell didn't hurt to simply ask! I wasn't aggressive or hard-as-nails; I simply and politely asked.

Over (American) Thanksgiving, John's buddy Jimbo was talking about buying a truck with a crane. He then told me about the industrial equipment and large-haul trucks he's amassed over the years (he's a criminal defense lawyer, and if people couldn't pay their bill they gave him the equipment in lieu of cash). He has in his possession a mini-semi and a trailer. A week later, John asked Jimbo if he could help us move, as renting a U-Haul to Florida would've cost $1,600. He happily agreed to help me move for a nominal fee and gas. He was also excited to take a little trip. I'll be near an expansive national shoreline with a nature preserve... Those guys can have some fun with hiking and getting a little sunshine.

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Sometimes patrons can really tickle me. An elderly lady wanted the corporate address for Home Depot. Her husband had a complaint and wanted to take his complaint to the highest position (he bought gift certificates; when he wanted to take them back, they wouldn't refund them). She said he's always writing companies with their complaints. She added she calls the 1-800 numbers on food products to tell them how she liked (or disliked) their food. She said she called Campbell's Soup and told the they needed to put less sugar in their soups. They talked for a few minutes, including about the weather for where the operator is located. They sent her $2.00 in coupons for her call.

Sometimes a simple comment or question can generate results. She made me think of my buddy Jesus (a real person, thank you). He had an Old Style beer phase for 3 years. He had made a throne (yes, a sizeable throne) out of the empties put back in their cases. The throne had to have been worth $100 (Michigan is a "bottle deposit" state; stores give 10 cents back for each empty can or bottle of pop or beer returned to them, and then they are reused rather than thrown away). The throne went from his kitchen floor to the 9-foot ceiling! It was sturdy enough to sit in! His sister Rosa found him a bunch of glasses and pitchers from garage sales with the Old Style logo and gave them to him.

The thing that cracked me up was a letter he had on his refrigerator. He wrote the Old Style brewery in Wisconsin with praises of their beer, and asked if they'd sell it in large-mouth cans in the future.

"I also did it 'cause I thought they'd send me some brew," he said.

Dear Mr. Celestino, Thank you for your positive comments of our fine product. We will forward your comments to our brewmaster... We do not have plans to distribute Old Style in large-mouth cans. Our tests have shown our product quality would be affected from the redesign in packaging... We appreciate your comments and for choosing Old Style.

Letter came without beer, needless to say. Jesus, however, remained persistent. I told him my Uncle Charlie got a job at a local beer distributor. Jesus was so happy because he thought he'd get a discount. He called Charlie who told him it only applied to immediate family of employees.

Jesus didn't give up. He called the beer distributor to see about getting the beer at a discount. From what he said, the distributor sounded courteous and interested. They asked him for his state-issued liquor license, and he then said he misplaced it. The distributor said they had access to liquor license information and would try to see if they can find his. They called back 3 days later: "sorry, Mr. Celestino, but I wasn't able to find a license under your name. If you find it, please call us back and we will be happy to distribute beer to you."

My former roommate like Mamba candies and wrote the US distributor with her comments. They wrote her back: Dear Ms. Frank: Thank you for your comments. We agree, Mamba's candies have a superior taste! We put much effort in delivering a fine candy to our customers! They sent her about $3.00 of coupons on Mamba candies, which she didn't have to pay to get.

Last but not least, I only paid $20.00 to move from my former apartment in Dear-boring Heights to this place. When I was at the U-Haul dealer to make reservations on my rental, some customers in front of me were really pissed. Their trucks were not available for them, despite making reservations far in advance. The office couldn't get any trucks from other stores to save their lives. I felt pretty bad for them; there was 7 people in the moving party and they had to make adjustments in their schedules to help with the move. I went to the U-Haul webpage and left my comments about their bad equipment. They promptly mailed me $40.00 in vouchers for U-Haul. I ended up paying for the bulk of my move 10 days later with those vouchers.

Simply ask, that's what I've learned to do. You never know what it can bring!

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