I wouldn't have thought possible...

I know that Roger gets sick and tired of hearing it; but I just can’t help myself.  Any time we drive to Toronto, I’m asking the meaningless rhetorical question of how anyone could spend their life in this grid lock that seems to paralyse every road, street and highway.  Roger has heard all this from me hundreds of time.  He patiently ignores by outbursts and waits for me to return to normalcy.  Which usually happens when the car is pointed back towards Waterloo.

It is a bright and sunny spring morning in Waterloo County.  I have picked up Roger and we’re driving into work – chatting about everything and nothing as we always do.  I’m only half listening.  Slowly my attention is drawn to Roger complaining about the amount of salt the Township puts on the winter roads.  Here it is May and we are talking about the salt they used last winter?  Apparently so.

A few years ago, Roger was so consumed with this irritant that he put together a petition demanding that the Township either stop, or severely restrict, the amount of salt used on the winter roads.  The salt usage was being accused of destroying a strip of grass and landscaping that bordered the properties on Roger’s street.  Roger got all his neighbours to sign the petition.  That, in and of itself, doesn’t mean anything.  Wouldn’t you sign just about anything to get an angry crazed 7 foot 800 pound man who is frothing at the mouth back out your front door?

 Roger took his petition to the Township office where he was directed to the lowest possible level of clerk to discuss the “salt issue”.  “Oh, we couldn’t possibly stop using salt on the winter roads.  We would be sued if anything ever happened....”  And it slid downhill from there (I guess they hadn’t used enough salt).  Talk about “rubbing salt into the wound”.  And proving, again, you can’t fight City Hall.

The only outcome of the petition was that Roger’s anger towards road salt has been intensified and continues to roil and boil within him.  Even to the point where, on a glorious beautiful day, when all we should be thinking about is how good it is to be alive, we are nagging about salt on the roads.  I wouldn’t have thought it was possible.

Lost in the Dust....

We admit it. Not that there is much point in trying to deny it – as anyone who knows us would immediately see. Roger and I are a couple of old farts. It wasn’t always this way; once we were younger than you are now. Time is a cruel master.

This is not intended to be a rant by another old guy about how things were better “back in the day”. Maybe there were; maybe they weren’t. Who knows.

A while ago, Roger called a Customer who had done us favour and Roger wanted to thank him. When he called, he got voice mail. As it was a personal message, rather than leave a voice mail, Roger hung up with the intent of calling back and speaking directly to the Customer . After an appropriate period, he tried again. When he called, he got voice mail. As it was a personal message, rather than leave a voice mail, Roger hung up with the intent of calling back and speaking directly to the Customer . After an appropriate period, he tried again. When he called, he got voice mail. As it was a personal message, rather than leave a voice mail, Roger hung up with the intent of calling back and speaking directly to the Customer . After an appropriate period, he tried again. When he called, he got voice mail. As it was a personal message, rather than leave a voice mail, Roger hung up with the intent of calling back and speaking directly to the Customer .

You get the idea....

The problem is this. With the passage of time, we no longer know what the etiquette or the protocols are in this situation. Do you keep trying and have the Customer think you are stalking them? Do you leave a voice mail that never conveys your appreciation as well as speaking directly to the person? Do you send an email – what we would think is even more impersonal than voice mail. Do you drive over and bang on their office door and say; “Thanks!” That might be a little over the top.

We don’t know how to properly handle a situation like this today.

We have been left behind – lost in the dust of history.


(Old age isn’t so bad – it has its advantages. I get to ride on the bus for a discounted fare. If I ever took the bus.)

You always make me look good...

We have one particular Customer that Roger has been working with for a long time; ever since this person was buried in the depths of a large organization.  Since then, with hard work, leadership, insight, and people skills, he has elevated himself to various senior positions; now to the point now where many “not for profit” organizations come knocking on his door for him to join their Board of Directors or Steering Committees.

All along that journey, he has worked with Roger.  He says, “You always make me look good....”

To us, that means 2 things.  Firstly, he has the confidence that Roger will deliver something that reflects well on him.  Secondly, he doesn’t place any restrictions on what Roger should do.

Normally, he and Roger will sit down and informally discuss the situation to be addressed.  Roger gets a feeling for the audience that is being directed and a general idea of the budget.

That leaves the door open to Roger’s imagination and creativity.  He tries to come up with 3 – 4 suggestions of what he thinks might be appropriate.  Then the Customer picks the one that he feels is most appropriate.

Roger doesn’t tell anyone he does it; but I have seen him in these situations always try and add a little something extra to the chosen solution.

Deliver more than what you promised and you make your Customer look good.