"A little nonsense now and then.....

...is cherished by the wisest man".....

I have a customer that comes by occasionally to pick up parts for the printing equipment he works on. His name is Jerry. I have known Jerry for... let's see... I guess it's been fourteen years or so now. The first time I can recall meeting him was when I was the regional parts manager for the AB Dick Co. They sold printing presses, copiers and accessories and I handled parts for the southeast.

Jerry came in one day with some parts he had bought, I had never met him before. He was trying to explain that he wanted to return some of the parts because he couldn't use them, or didn't need them.. I can't remember which exactly. After listening to him stammer on for a while, I said, "You want to return these." He said, "yes." I acted put off because I enjoyed screwing around with customers and had gotten a kick out listening to him trying to be diplomatic about the return, almost like he was afraid that he would be met with the usual corporate attitude . After a few "hmmphs" and stalking around I said "Sure, no problem." I was amused by how grateful he was. At that moment he became a preferred customer. I liked him, he was nice, funny and reasonably smart....

I say reasonably because the poor old hippie is just plain wrong about middle east policies.... Yes Jerry, you are... give it up.. As you can tell we have a multi year debate going on about foreign policy and the United States.

Jerry is well known in the industry as a hard working guy who gives his customers a fair deal. He is always ready with a story or magic trick. He's very talented with slight of hand, and has a great gift of gab with people. These things lead his customers to treat him more like a favored family member stopping by for a long awaited visit than a service tech there to work on their printing press. Besides that I have a great deal of respect for him, he served his country during the Vietnam war, he didn't want to of course, but he did.. and he doesn't bitch about it. He's the guy who talked me into becoming an ordained minister, yep, he and I are both ordained ministers of the Universal Life Church... we can do weddings, funerals, couples counseling.. and even have I.D. cards and bumper stickers... Who could turn that down right?

You can be assured that when Jerry stops by, unless he's in a hurry, he'll have plenty of opinions to share with you on anything from current politics to alien visitation... he's always good for a laugh and is a true friend as well as valued customer...

But then, don't we all need a break from the usual b.s. that we deal with each day? Joking around and laughing is as important as corporate responsibility... maybe just a tad more important in the long run..