Who Am I ?

Here's something I think might ring a bell with you. In fact, if you're like most of us, you might have written what I'm going to tell you. It's about a person who calls their self a nice customer. It goes something like this:

I'm a nice customer. You all know me. I'm the one who never complains, no matter what kind of service I get.

I'll go in a restaurant and I'll sit while the waitress gossips with her boy friend and never bothers to look and see if my hamburger is ready to go. Sometimes a party who came in after me gets my hamburger, but I don't say a word or complain when the girl tells me, "Oh. I'm sorry, I'll order another for you." I just wait.

It's the same when I go to a Hair Styling Salon to get my hair cut. I don't complain when the Stylist gets the back of my blouse wet with soapy water and doesn't apologize or when they talk to their co-worker about everything and disregard my explanation of what I wanted. No, I don't throw my weight around. I try to be thoughtful of the other person. And when they leave hair on the back of my neck I'm as polite as can be. I don't think rudeness in return is the answer.

The other day I stopped in at the neighborhood full service gas station. I waited for almost five minutes before the attendant took care of me. And when he did, he spilled gas on my fender and wiped the car windshield with an oily rag. I didn't expect him to thank me for stopping by, and he didn't. Naturally, I didn't complain about the service. Next time I'll drive several miles out of my way to find a new service station.

I never kick. I never nag. I never criticize and I wouldn't dream of making a scene, as I've seen people do in public places. I think that's uncalled for. No, I'm the nice customer. And I'll tell you what else I am.

I'm the customer who never comes back!

That's my way of doing for getting pushed around too much. That's why I take whatever you hand out, because I know I'm not coming back. It's true that this doesn't relieve my feelings right off as telling you what I think of you could, but in the long run it's far more deadly than blowing my top.

In fact, a nice customer like me multiplied by others of my kind can just about ruin a business. There's a lot of nice people in the world, just like me. When we get pushed far enough we go on down the street to another place of business and eat our hamburgers, get our hair cut and buy our goods in places where they're smart enough to hire help who appreciate nice customers.

He laughs best they say who laughs last. I laugh when I see you frantically spending your money on expensive advertising to get me back when you could have had me in the first place for a few kind words and a smile.

I don't care what business you're in. Maybe you live in a different town or maybe I've never heard of you. But if you're going broke or your business is bad, maybe there are enough people like me who do know you. I’M THE CUSTOMER WHO NEVER RETURNS!