Shop Rant

So I am temporarily behind the parts counter until we move to the new location. I'm answering phone calls and providing parts service to customers.

First, there's the (other) brand-loyal people that will spend $15,000+ on a superfluous motorcycle and have the nerve to be a penny pinching cheapskate for every part and accessory. It cracks me up and saddens me to see expensive bikes with cheap tires or botched modifications because the owner couldn't bring him/herself to spend the money to do a proper job.

Secondly, I was not aware of how much rudeness and time-wasting comes from the telephone. People asking for parts that cannot be described over the phone, not knowing what bike they have, hanging up in the middle of a sentence... Saying "hello" and "goodbye" is common etiquette, isn't it?

Then I suppose that the people that do this aren't smart enough to realize that we indeed have caller ID. And if you're enough of a jerk, then maybe you really do deserve to pay too much for your parts. Or maybe you do deserve to have your parts arrive later than usual. And maybe your friends and associates know you're a jerk and take that into consideration when you complain - because you probably complain about everything!

Even though the sign at the front of the building says "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone," I think there is more satisfaction in taking that person's money, especially when the (exceptionally more likable) person right next to him gets a better deal.

Sure, this is just a rant. People get mad or screw up. That's understandable. Treating people like dirt is intolerable - from either side of the counter. I've always striven to excel at respectfulness; perhaps my personal high standards are too much to ask from common consumers? I doubt it. People enjoy helping others. When jerks try to take that away, let the chips fall where they may... Nobody wants to help a jerk. But anybody will take his money.