A Bad Taste in My Mouth
Posted: September 15th, 2009 by Chick Moorman & Thomas Haller
I stopped for lunch the other day at a Big Boy restaurant. As the young greeter took me to my seat, I notice the florescent writing on a white board that announced the day’s luncheon specials.
“Try are Whitefish,” the sign suggested. I noticed the incorrect use of “are” right away. It’s a lot easier for me to notice mistakes in other people’s writing than it is in my own. Many of my readers have been quick to point that out. Yes, I saw it. It should have been “our” rather than “are.”
“You have a mistake in your luncheon special sign,” I informed the greeter, figuring she would want to know. “Are” is misspelled. It needs to be “O-U-R.” “I didn’t do it,” she told me without looking up.
I didn’t think I had accused her of anything, but maybe I had unconsciously allowed an accusatory tone to slip into the conversation. I’ve been known to do that before. So I said in my best I am not accusing you of anything voice, “I just thought you would want to know so you could have somebody fix it.”
“That’s not my job,” she shot back. “That’s done before I even get here.” “Are we having the same conversation here?” I thought to myself. Before I could answer my own question in my head, she added, “It wasn’t my fault.”
Ok, time to stop talking and eat lunch. I did. I had whitefish.
On the way out I noticed the sign had not been changed. My experience in the restaurant left a bad taste it my mouth. It wasn’t from the whitefish.
I told this story to a friend when I got home. “That’s the trouble with schools today,” she said. “They don’t spend enough time teaching kids how to spell.” “Nope,” I disagreed. “This story is not about spelling. It is about learning how to take personal responsibility in our lives. For sure, many schools do not invest enough time helping students learn about responsibility. And neither does the rest of the culture. Schools, parents, coaches, churches, community groups and others aren’t doing an adequate job helping children live responsible lives”
“Hey, it’s not their fault. It’s not their job. It was done before they even got there.” Smells kind of fishy to me.
Chick Moorman
I wonder if Chick makes up these stories sometimes, i have never seen anything like this in my 50 years.
Tom
15 Sep 09 at 8:09 am
Big Boy Restaurant, Benton Harbor, MI, I-94, about a year ago.The whitefish was tasty.
chick
Chick
15 Sep 09 at 9:05 am
I see stuff like this all the time and it drives me crazy. I don’t doubt it a bit. I’ve also run into similar attitudes from sales clerks. The last time was over a bit of math, not spelling or grammar. I’d given her $10.58 for a $7.58 sale and she panicked. I tried three times to explain how to figure out the change (I used to teach math) and each time she interrupted saying (louder and louder each time), “I’m no good in math.” Seemed really attached to being bad at math, not remotely willing to take advantage of an opportunity to understand something, much less take responsibility for her own learning. Drives me crazy.
Jane
15 Sep 09 at 1:47 pm
Unfortunately, I, too, have seen common mistakes such as the one Chick noticed, have had the same kind of conversation, and I, too, wondered how I could have presented my thoughts differently. And, like Chick, I also noticed I was the only one engaged in the morality of the situation as well as the only one engaged in the question of personal responsibility of the situation. A sad commentary on the state of consciousness in our culture.
Monica in HB, CA
15 Sep 09 at 2:42 pm
Having been in the shoes of those who serve food, I am intolerant of servers who do not take the responsibility to represent their restaurant – and themselves – in the best possible way to customers. When asked about the soup of the day – or a similar type question – they have no problem saying they \\"don\\\’t know, they just came in\\". It doesn\\\’t appear to bother them that they don\\\’t know, and they apparently feel no responsibility to find out. I recognize that this is a management problem also, how could an owner allow his employees to be \\"on the floor\\" without the tools to do the best job, but how could a person be comfortable with himself in that situation?
Wynne
15 Sep 09 at 8:42 pm
Is this a cultural problem or a management problem? Or a personal problem? Perhaps some of each.
chick
Chick
16 Sep 09 at 3:15 pm
I agree with you Chick and it drives me crazy!! I just had this conversation last night! I am taking a college class, at an old age….and my classmates posts and language are driving me crazy! Examples of; there for their, their selfs for themselves, it is awful!! And these are adults in college!!!! I am appalled at the lack of concern for their replies and the instructor hasn’t corrected them yet!! I just don’t understand….I would have asked for the pen to correct it, otherwise, I like you, would still be thinking about it! I do reply to those posts and be sure I use their words over, only correctly!
sue
21 Sep 09 at 6:34 am
Spelling & grammar errors are common, & I try not to point it out because I am not a white American & I did not grow up here. But yes, I agree that personal responsibility is the core issue here.
In one of my last jobs in the Philippines before moving to America I was a training & organizational development specialist for Samsung. The company\’s slogan at the time was \"Change begins with me.\" Too often people like to blame someone or something other than themselves for what goes wrong. Whether it\’s family, the school system, the culture – it\’s always easier to put the blame on someone else than to take a close, hard look at ourselves & see what\’s wrong & what needs to change.
Den
27 Sep 09 at 5:42 am