A Little (But Not Too Much) Love for the Customer Service Rep

Sometime last week, I was at a K-Mart. The cashier called me over and was probably the least attentive I've seen for a long time. Something her co-workers were doing behind the counter was far more funny and interesting than my comforter. All I thought was Wow. But I wasn't mad at her. And to be honest, what was going on behind the counter was a little more funny and interesting than my comforter. There are some people who I know that would have been FURIOUS (with a capital furious) at that. But I can't be that person. I've been there. I've been that cashier. And cashiers tend to do things like that from time to time. We joked. We were playful. It happened. It kept us from going absolutely postal on customers who  swore the store was built for them. And at one point, I was that customer, too.

I had to have been about 12 years old. I was at a Burger King at a mall. I ordered a Whopper (I think) and it came back wrong. The cashier was definitely older than me, but not old old (probably late teens).

I absolutely laid into her. I yelled at her with the fury and the anger of 1,000 drill sergeants. I didn't cuss at her, however (that counts for something). And she started to cry. And man, did that get to me. Maybe she had been going through something that day and I was the breaking point. I don't know. I immediately apologized to her and the manager. I promised to never act like that towards a customer service rep.

Here's the thing: a lot of people have never had an actual customer service job. And I mean face-to-face customer service - not call center stuff. Customer service sucks. Cashiers will do things to make their job slightly better. So unless the cashier is cussing you out or throwing fecal matter in your face, give them a little bit of respect.

HOWEVER, to cashiers: stop acting like idiots. Don't ignore customers. Don't cuss customers out. Don't act like you are the greatest thing to happen to customer service. The customers are not throwing fecal matter in YOUR face. So chill.

Uh Oh. Religion.

Of all the topics in the world two or more people can discuss, religion is the one that can be the most heated (up there with politics as well). It can makes totally rational people irrational. Or hostile. Or violent. Naturally it's a touchy subject with lots of people. So also naturally, I wanna touch it (religion, that is. Minds out of the gutter.)

First, some background. I kinda grew up in church. Living with a born-again Christian aunt meant every Sunday the entire household were in church. Sometimes on Saturdays too for choir rehearsal. Sometimes even during the week for Bible study. And I never wanted to go. It was always a minor victory if for whatever reason we didn't go. I had lots of good and memorable times in church, however. And for some of those moments, I wouldn't trade them for anything. One moment in particular stands out above all.

On a midweek night at Bible study, I remember the teacher drilling into our heads that "anything not of God and that is of the world is a sin". I had to have been 9 or 10-years-old at the time. I had a question. Mind you, this will sound sorta silly, but it was one of the important questions that I've ever had to have an answer for:

"What about basketball?"

I don't remember her answer verbatim, but it was somewhere between "Yes, that too" and " I dunno". Her uncertainty gave me uncertainty. She doesn't know? is all I thought. Since that day, even though I went to church (I had no choice), a new way of thinking started to blossom within me. 

Fast forward to today. I no longer go to church. I guess I am what you would call an agnostic. I can't confirm nor deny God's existence, so I have no faith or disbelief in Him. (And yes, I still capitalize the H in him or he out of respect, not belief.) I feel like once I stopped going to church, I could think on my own and come up with a decision to believe or disbelieve. I looked at both sides of the coin and made my choice. I don't truly understand why people love to bash Atheists/Christian for their views and beliefs. Believe what YOU want and don't worry about the next man. 

I remember a conversation between two people a while back. One an Atheist, the other a devout, born again Christian. This interaction was very interesting and quite honestly, it was expected. The atheist pointed out solid facts and points and counterpoints. His argument came across as intelligent and rational. The Christian essentially said God exists just because, except he did it in an unintelligent manner. That's just the devil was the main retort. And it seems that most (not all) conversation like this end up with the same conclusion. Believe, but do it intelligently. If someone asks you why do you think God exists, your answer shouldn't be because!!! Mountains!!! Air!!! Jesus!!! Come across a little more intelligent, and maybe the title of "Religious nut" can be wiped away.

And now a promise: I will never touch religion on this blog again.

Politics though? 

I'm touching the hell out of that.

Crap Music (with hope!)

I need help. I need to understand. It's so confusing.

Why is what's being played on radios nowadays being considered "music"? Can anyone truly answer this? Now I'm not saying that everything single song being played on radio is crap, but it is a very high percentage. And it's not genre-specific either. Rap, pop, R&B, rock. Crap. Lots and lots of crap. But there is some hope (faint as it may be).

Postmodern Jukebox is a group of highly-talented musicians who take highly-crappy radio songs and turn them into highly-amazing works of art with an old-school feel. They made Izzy Azalea's "Fancy" listenable. That's miraculous stuff right there. And while Maroon 5's "Maps" isn't all that bad lyrically (musically? Different story...), PMJ gave it a 70's Soul makeover and made the song sound like it should have been that way from the jump.

I saw these guys live back in July and I'm going again this coming Sunday. I highly suggest that you take a listen below and tell me I'm wrong for feeling the way I do.

Intro to Whatever

I've done a lot of reading on how to start a blog. I wanted know where to start. And just about everyone said the same thing:

"Pick a passion. Pick one subject that you're passionate about."

That was a problem because I'm passionate about...well, things. A lot of things. Things in general. Music. Movies. Sports. Gaming. Etcetera. So did this mean that I shouldn't start a blog? Was this a sign?

Um...no.

I'm bucking the trend and doing things my way. Not doing this for money. Not doing it for fame or notoriety. I'm doing it because I just want my thoughts out there. I wanna see who agree or disagrees. Money would be nice. Like really nice. Fame wouldn't be too bad, either. I just want to talk about whatever. Almost in a Seinfeldian kind of way, but with 40% less Kramer and 100% more Derrick from Massachusetts.