writings
Paul Martin Lester (E-mail and home page), University of Montana
Service. Service with a smile. Service that you remember so that you come back for more. Texaco used to show commercials where the all-male staff sang and danced their way to your windshield and gas tank. Those TV ads were made during an era when a gas station attendant actually filled the tank for you. We used to get full, instead of self-service. But I suspect that despite the convenience of swiping a card in a slot in a gas station pump and filling the tank ourselves, sometimes we miss the personal attention of having it done for us. We'll drive longer, even pay a little more for what we perceive as added service.
When you are about to eat an expensive meal at a fancy restaurant, don't you like a waitperson that is not overly cheerful, yet attentive to your dining needs, is creative in suggesting a wine that will go with the restaurant's special entree for the evening, and maybe even knows your name? That's good service. We all like to be pampered a bit, I suspect. That's why we put on enough layers until we look like Pillsbury Doughboys, spray the ice off the windows, and drive to a downtown store to do our last minute shopping because we know the place will most likely have hot drinks, sweet smells, and a friendly staff ready to give us, service.
But you just can't get service on the World Wide Web. I've tried. I can't find it anywhere. Oh sure, after you buy something on the Web there might be some polite message thanking you for your order with a confirmation number sent via your e-mail, but you're left with a disconnected and dissatisfied feeling.
Now don't get me wrong. I've bought books, toys, clothing, cds, videos, and airplane tickets on the Web. Am I concerned about someone finding out my credit card number? About as much as when someone at a restaurant takes my card to a back room somewhere with the check.
Nevertheless, the Web is a popular place to buy things. There's even a website called "WWW dot what the heck dot com" that lists rather odd items that have been put up for sale on the popular auction website, Ebay. I'm sure you've heard of folks trying to sell a kidney or a soul, but you can also buy through the EBay auction site the raft used by Elian Gonzalez to escape from Cuba, a ghost photograph of Nicole Simpson, a 31 inch toenail, a dead, stuffed, and bongo playing frog, a collection of nine used toothbrushes, and-how can you pass up this deal-the sun-for only 10 million dollars. But these are all just things. Where's the service?
For although the Web is touted as the next best thing, in fact, when you think about it, there are probably more things that can't be done on the Web than can. I can't get my hair cut, my shoes shined, or my laundry cleaned on the Web. I can't get my trash taken out through the Web. I can't get snow tires put on my truck. And my daughter Allison says, she can't get her room vacuumed on the Web. And that's why there will always be a need for attentive sales clerks instead of computer thank you programs and punch card ballots instead of online voting. Because for all its bells and whistles-the Web lacks that human touch.
So when you're out at the mall or downtown fighting the crowds and jostling for space in front of the cashier's station trying to get that last minute perfect present, be thankful this holiday season that we can't do it all on the Web. Let's be happy that we're out in the world with people and not alone sitting at a desk in front of a computer getting thank you messages from an automated shopping program. Service. Service with a smile. Ask for it by name. ___________________________________ This is Paul Lester of the Practical Ethics Center at the University of Montana
writings