I am currently reading How to Train a Wild Elephant by Jan Chosen Bays. It is a book that contains 53 simple exercises in mindfulness. I gave a friend the book for Christmas and we are doing the exercises, 1 each week and then talking on the phone or by email to review how things [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Leave No Trace
Posted in Uncategorized on February 7, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Finding Your Place
Posted in Uncategorized on December 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I’m always a little surprised when I meet other educated folks who upon finding out I’m a librarian ask something along the lines of: do you get to read all day? Really? People still think that? If I actually had to read all day at work, I would hate my job. I think one of [...]
Sigh. You are bothering me.
Posted in Uncategorized on October 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Sigh. The Sigh is the signal customer service people give you to let you know how stupid, annoying, disruptive or outrageous your inquiry is. I recently received The Sigh from a company my doctor had engaged to provide me with some medical equipment. I have dealt with this company for a few years now and [...]
I am the customer.
Posted in Uncategorized on September 16, 2011 | 3 Comments »
I am the customer again. When you work in a public library, whether it’s in the town where you reside or not, you tend to be self serving. Even when I did not live in the same town as the public library where I worked, I exclusively used my work library. I’m embarrassed to [...]
Liar, Liar
Posted in Uncategorized on June 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
What do you do when the customer is clearly lying? We recently had a book returned with dog chew marks all over the spine. The book was withdrawn from the collection. The customer insisted that she had borrowed the book in that condition. A lot of times when we have empowered staff on the front [...]
Score: You Lose. I Lose.
Posted in Uncategorized on August 1, 2010 | 4 Comments »
In my many jobs over the years in various industries I have encountered a person who I call, The Scorekeeper, in almost every single place. The Scorekeeper spends untold amounts of energy keeping track of what others are doing. I’ve seen scorekeepers keep track of other people’s sick days, how many hours other people were [...]
I’d rather be….
Posted in Uncategorized on July 13, 2010 | 2 Comments »
In the morning, on the way to my car, I pass another car owned by someone in my building. It has a bumper sticker on it that says: I’d rather be in New York. There are actually two people in my building who have “I’d rather be…” stickers. When I see them, I automatically think: [...]
Friendship and Love
Posted in Uncategorized on March 2, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I’ve been thinking about friendship, a lot. This photo was taken yesterday in Brooklyn. That is me and my dear friend, Grace. I was in Brooklyn to have lunch with her and say goodbye, because she and her family are moving back to Wisconsin. I have mixed emotions about this. I am happy for her [...]
Empowering Employees For Better Customer Service
Posted in Uncategorized on February 4, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I was at Whole Foods yesterday. Ordinarily when I mention Whole Foods on this blog, I have something good to say because they do so many “right” things as far as customer service goes. Today I have a story to share that is more typical in the retail world. I was on my lunch hour [...]
Join in the Fun!
Posted in Uncategorized on January 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
On this one year anniversary of The Civil Civil Servant, I’d like to swing open the doors and invite you to join me. I am hoping one or three! of you would be interested in contributing to this blog on a regular basis. I’m not stepping down or interested in really, even slowing down; but, [...]
