Do I look broke?

Image by patterbt via Flickr

I'm going to have a Pet Peeving relapse.

You see, I pay cash just like any good Dave Ramsey listener and I don't have any need for credit. So, one of my pet peeves is when a store offers me a 10% discount on my purchase if I will apply for a credit card. I've decided I'll just start taking offense to the question, by asking in return, "Do I look broke to you?"

I realize it's not the cashier's fault and they "have to offer them" in order to keep their job. But at least that will help them offer them unenthusiastically the next time. Perhaps they could respond with, "Would you like to ruin your life financially for you and your kids by applying for one of these stupid credit cards in order to save $00.10 on this unhealthy candy bar?"

My point is, don't assume I'm broke. It's insulting.

Free Trolly Rides in Franklin

It's free to ride the trolley service in Franklin, Tennessee today, so I decided to research it for a few minutes to see how valuable it might be as an alternative to driving my own car. Here's my conclusion: it's not worth it.

I actually like public transportation in big cities. I love being able to walk and ride subways to get around, but in bigger cities a particular stop could be accessed on a regular basis in any given hour. That's just not the case for Franklin.

I could give you several examples, but here is one example of why the Franklin Transit Authority doesn't work for the business class.

I have an hour for lunch, let's say I want to ride the trolley from my office down the road 2 miles to eat lunch. I would have to walk 10 minutes to a stop at 11:34a to catch a trolley. So I leave at 11:24a.

I would arrive at my destination 4 minutes later according to the schedule making it 11:38a. I would then have to walk another 10 minutes to the food establishment making it 11:48a. The next trolley to take me back to my office leaves at 12:27 pm, so I would need to leave the restaurant by 12:17pm to catch the trolley, leaving me 29 minutes to eat which is plenty. However, since I had to leave work at 11:24a, I would already be 3 minutes late getting back to work. But allowing 14 minutes for the return trip, I would ultimately be 17 minutes late getting back from lunch.

So here's a chart of the time difference it takes to make a 2 mile round-trip on the Franklin Trolley.

My Car = 10 minutes
Trolley = 48 minutes

I'd use the Trolleys if they were convenient. They simply are not.

Dismantling Expectations

No matter what the establishment is, there will always be people who despise the service they received, but there will also be others who are appreciative. I'm sure there are critics for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, but our experience has always been good. Yesterday was no exception.

Our little girl woke up unusually fussy and cranky. It didn't take us long to realize something was wrong with her. Because she is only a few weeks old, the back of the Infant's Tylenol box says "ask a doctor" about dosage. So, we call the Doctor and after talking with her, she tells us to go ahead and head down to the ER since it was Sunday morning and there were no other symptoms other than a temperature.

All of our babysitters were out of town or at Church. So, we decided to go ahead and take our 3 year old son. We didn't know what to expect but we figured this was going to be a long morning with a sick baby and an active 3 year old.

When we arrived to Vanderbilt's Children ER, we were immediately taken to a private waiting room where we only waited for about 3 minutes before a gentleman named Bill came to to take us to a patient room. Once we got in the room, the nurses began to take care of our little girl. Bill however, went a step further and started talking with our son. Right away, Bill went to get our 3 year old some Teddy Grahams and a sippy cup of apple juice without us even asking.

Our day at the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital didn't go completely smooth, but since when does a hospital visit ever go smooth. It's all about expectations and Bill must have realized that right from the start. People's expectations of a Doctor's office are usually low, but from the start Bill dismantled any expectations we might have had and started our visit off on the right foot.

From that point forward, we greeted every nurse and doctor with the same expectations that Bill established. It helped us focus on the good things about our day and not the bad. We only saw Bill during the first 30 minutes, but his impression lasted all day long.

If you work in a place where the public's expectations are not very high then consider becoming a Bill or a Fred.