I’m moving to my 27th lifetime residence this weekend. I know so much about moving that I started a part-time moving company a few years ago that was thriving until my truck got stolen recently. There is no shortage of restless people, and I am one of them.
I made a terrible error in renting a moving truck from Budget, and my experience has been symbolic of precisely what is wrong with the old-economy, factory worker mentality. Despite my planning, Budget let my truck go to somebody else — leaving me in a terrible bind and piling on more layers of stress. The rest you can probably already guess because it is the status quo in America: furious on hold listening to a voice recording about how great Budget is; robotic customer service reading from scripts and transferring me because “that’s not my job;” zero problem solving because, “the system says we don’t have anything.” Nowhere along the lengthy process was a single “sorry” or “how can I fix this?” Sound familiar? I’m guessing there’s a few thousand head nods right now.
I am announcing the end of this stupid, race-to-the-bottom mentality. It has failed and will slowly die in the coming years, and I eagerly await the funeral wake where I can get drunk and piss in the coffin. No longer will you succeed by not giving a shit, and if you are not providing value, you will fail alongside the groaning behemoth. I will help you fail.
This is the type of mentality that creates 80 different factory specialists working on the assembly floor at GM while Hyundai is kicking General Motor ass with 2 different types of factory worker. This is the type of mentality that replaces humans with machines to squeeze out an extra 6 widgets per hour. This is the anti-world-made-by-hand. “Not my job” is dead, folks. I killed it today.
Conversely, my hero emerged after sending out a mass email asking “anybody know a good rental truck company?” Within minutes I had this: “CC Rental, 212-239-3333. Good luck” from a good friend. Turns out CC Rental is owned by artists — precisely the type of people poised to rule the world in the new economy where money matters half as much as value. We chatted and laughed (a real person answered), and they came up with a creative solution that beat Budget’s budget price. Of course, I would have paid twice as much.
I’m telling you that if you are working in a job that can be replaced by a machine or can be written in a manual, then you need to reexamine your job. Your job is not safe nor should it be. We do not need more script readers, 9-step telephone navigation menus, and Assistant Divisional Associates. You are a free human. You are an artist.
The world is not changing, it has changed even if major corporations haven’t quite figured it out yet. The ultimate machine, the internet, changed it the moment it gave the keywords, “budget sucks” a voice.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
This is friggin’ great, Tommy, absolutely nails global corporate “Capitalism” (a simulacrum of free enterprise) and offers a different, localized, responsive, capitalism of free choice by workers and customers.
I have been busting okole (Hawaiian for derriere) for the past two weeks, taking care of my customers in the real world, many of whom are young enough to be my kinds. Doesn’t matter–impeccable service is what it’s all about, not just ‘capitalistically” but spiritually….
Dang I like the way you write…
“What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change is the experience of love. It is that inherent experience of love that becomes the engine of change.” This came from a daily meditation I read, written by a Franciscan monk from New Mexico. I thought that this applies to what you both are talking about. Love could be the greatest human art-form, our most valuable of services. Lets spread it around.
It’s the old lower common denominator mentality of ” what will people tolerate” then provide service based on the notion that to save 62 cents people will put up with just about anything. The only way to fight back is withdraw your money from such business’s
You just confirmed two things for me. Thanks!
1. I took a big chance and hired a manager with good management background but no direct experience for a rather highly specialized position. Being conservative, I hired him at the bottom of the wage scale possible. He has thanked me so many times I’ve lost count as he wasn’t working at all for almost a year.
Turns out, his people skills and sense of caring, really caring, has made me thanking him I don’t know how many times. I’m happy to report he got a huge raise this week – huge. And he earned it by being both good at what he does, but more importantly, because he puts himself into it and respects all the people around him.
This morning, I’m giving an evaluation to another manager. He’s turned in fantastic numbers in his area but I question his leadership and general people skills. We’ve had a number of talks about this over the past year and I’ve been on the fence about what, if any, kind of financial reward he has earned. I’m off the fence after reading your thoughts this morning. He will get something but minimal. And, I’ve decided his job is on the fence.
2. I’ve been wondering lately, and discussing this with some trusted friends, about the future of our society. I’ve been asked to predict the future for a couple friends. You know, write down what I see happenining for them in our economy, our society, and to them specifically. Reluctantly, I will.
I’m a believer in trend lines and it has always seemed pretty obvious that if you can understand where we’ve been, kind of point by point, you can draw an imaginary line into the future and get a probability sense of where we’re probably headed. Connect the dots so to speak.
So, where have we been and where are we going? I’m writing a book about this and could go on endlessly but I won’t bore you. In general, we have gone from a “hands on” society to a “squeeze out the last penny” society. Complacency. We’ve turned over thought and decision making to others. We turn a blind eye and don’t value those artists who help us get trucks. We are rotting away from the inside and I don’t know how to tell my friends this without insulting them.
I’ve been trying desperately to rationalize our dire situatiion but have not been able to. I think my second confirmation, thanks to you, is that it all really is pretty fucked up and getting worse.
Hate the song, “Waiting for the World to Change.” Why wait? Get your ass out there and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Where are the people in streets? I guess they’re playing video games and can’t be bothered by real people.
I will write what I see for my friends’ futures. Not to reveal anything other than how obvious it is where we are headed and that this future is predictable; and not by some genius. Just average me.
This blog is great. It gives voice to many. I sure hope you’re getting a lot of hits and people use their portable devices to get outside and yell about these things. I hope they do more than talk about it too. Sharing ideas is great but, sooner or later, people have to decide to do something.
Hurray for you and your artist truck guys. Hope you get you own truck replaced soon so you can get out there and do what you do. Good caring service is an art in itself.
Some of us are indeed restless. Our society has failed us, our culture is disgusting and we want nothing to do with it anymore. We tried to play along and be good citizens, but now we’ve had all we can take.
All around me I see and talk to sick people, folks who are heartsick about the greed in America. They are often made to think they’re the problem, they’re losers because they question it and don’t scramble and screw everyone for every penny they can get. They drive old beaters and don’t shop.
The people who silently work behind the scenes, who help homeless animals, who help others in any way they can, these people are my tribe. It’s the Tribe of Compassion.
You who drive a fancy BMW and flash your so-called “status,” – you have a lot to learn about hubris and the lessons won’t be easy.
Thanks for a great blog.
I agree that the world has changed, without everyone necessarily seeing it. That’s part of what this second great depression is about.
The response has to be grassroots. I don’t give a shit about Comcast (my own story) or Budget, or anyone. Who gets my business is who earns it. If the auto-shop here in town can’t be bothered to get me a quote to fix something (while I am consecutively on the internet and able to get quotes on my own parts from RockAuto in seconds), then I’m gonna fix it myself. Those dollars represent my life-time so you are going to have to earn them.
Your dollar is the only vote that matters, and let the rest of the world chase down the the expired economic paradigm to their own detriment. Their problem.
For Michael:
A saying I used to post a lot:
“Your dollar is your only vote. If you want Change, keep it in your pocket.”
A great conversation, Tommy.
We need to make people feel uncomfortable for doing shitty work and being oblivious to the fine details of life.
Good Work needs both producers and users that care for the discourse. When they are separated by money or space or time, nobody really gives a shit except about the money because they think the money IS the connection.
That was great, Tommy! Screw everyone who doesn’t take responsibility for their lives, or in Budget’s case, their business. I rented a Budget truck once and drove it in the rain. Though the windows were up, I still got wet.
I am caving in here and posting one great quote: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” (Leo Tolstoy)
Every dollar is indeed a vote that ‘counts’ (if it is diverted from global corporate entities) and a vote in an election also counts–if it against the incumbent.