The Privileged Slave
Circa: ‘Way Back When’ my sons were around 10 and 8 years old.
Setting: At McDonalds ordering Ince-cream cones.
Parties Involved: My two sons and me.
BACKGROUND:
We just got done hooping, playing ‘Around the World’ and I wanted to treat them. All three of us approached the counter at a nearby McDonalds & I ordered 2 Vanilla Ice-Cream Cones.
THE CONVERSATION:
EMPLOYEE (Handing us 2 Chocolate Ince-cream Cones): “Here ya go , Sir.”
ME (Correcting him): “We ordered Vanilla not Chocolate.”
EMPLOYEE: “Oh, I’m sorry, I will throw them away and make the Vanilla Cones”
ME: “Wait…we still want the 2 Vanilla Cones, but why would you throw them away?”
EMPLOYEE: “Because that’s not what you ordered.”
ME: “I understand that, but why waste them- give them to the kids too.”
EMPLOYEE: “That will be an additional charge.”
ME: “I only am willing to pay for the 2 Vanilla Cones, but since it was your mistake, you should give them to the kids as a gratuity. Why just throw it away?”
EMPLOYEE: “If I give them to you, I’ll have to charge you?”
ME: “Why do you have to charge me? I didn’t order it, and it was your mistake.”
EMPLOYEE (totally confused): “Let me get my manager…”
ME: “Ok…”
Note: By this time, my 2 sons are thinking, ‘there goes Dad again, making a point…’ What they didn’t realize at that time is that I was teaching them to use Critical Thinking during common everyday scenarios.
MGR: ”My employee told me that he made a mistake, as you ordered Vanilla and not Chocolate. Our company policy is to discard the wrong-order products and not re-sell it.”
ME: “Why is that?”
MGR: “For sanitary reasons.”
ME: “I totally get that: So, the rule is to discard the product and the rationale behind it is to prevent the product from sitting around and becoming unsanitary, so you’re protecting your customers.”
MGR: “Exactly.”
ME: “But it’s not sitting around, it’s on the counter behind you, so it’s not contaminated in any way.”
MGR: “I’m sorry but that’s our company policy.”
ME:” I’m just using logic: if the rationale behind the rule no longer supports or justifies the rule, then the rule makes no sense. Think for a second, in this instance, your employee made a mistake, no big deal, and now your company has an opportunity to extend good will to its customer and future customers.
MGR: ”I’m sorry, I can’t do that, but here is your 2 Vanilla cones.”
ME: “So you are going to throw the 2 chocolate cones away, even though there are no sanitary issues with extending them to your future customers?
MGR: ‘I’m afraid so…I hope you understand.”
ME (Realizing there is no way of getting through): “Got it….I Over-Stand!...You have a good day…”
P.S.
Afterwards, I explained to both my sons, that companies have RULES to follow and if they are smart there is a rational to support the rule. But when THE RATIONALE becomes a like square peg that doesn’t fit in the Round Hole Rule- then a new rule must be made. I explained that most people blindly follow rules even to their own detriment. I told my sons, “Don’t be like that – use your independent thinking. If it doesn’t make sense- don’t follow the crowd.”
B.P.S. I am happy to say that both my sons have grown up to be incredibly independent thinkers. One is a Civil Rights Attorney and the other is self-educated homeopathic practitioner.
RE the 2 pics I selected: Just look at those GOOFY Scooby-Do faces! 😊 How many times in life (at a bank, at a Dr’s office, at work, at a restaurant, in sports, in the family, or at school, etc..) have we dealt with these Privileged Slaves creating unnecessary, red-taped drama for us? That would be a STRONG ‘Yikes!’....From the Lookout Post.