Is it just me or did society completely get off the service train long ago, only to watch it leave the station with no return trip planned?  Can someone please tell me when we went to a total self service model in almost every aspect of our lives?

When was the last time that you went somewhere and were really taken care of?  Leads me to ask…..

Whatever happened to…..Customer Service?

My wife and I don’t go out much, but when we do it is as though we are cursed.  It seems as though we have pulled the ignore card when it comes to dining.  Every since we started dating it doesn’t matter where we go in town, our service in a word, “Sucks!” 

Now I was raised to believe that if someone was going to lay down their hard earned, then you give them your attention in order to get a tip out of it.  Maybe it is my Christian belief that you do all things as though you were doing them for the Almighty, and maybe that is placing things a little too high for some. 

I recall one time at a famous pancake house, that we sat for 25 minutes before we even got greeted and then another 15 to get out drinks and order taken.  The food finally got to the table and it wasn’t right.  After, getting the proper order it was cold, frustrated by this point but hungry we ate it, my wife never got a refill on her tea and actually got up and went to the beverage station and refilled her glass herself.  We brought this to the managers attention and what does he do, he tells our server that we were not pleased, the server comes out and says, “My manager told me you were unhappy with my service, well I am busy, so if you need something, just flag me down.”  Really?!  Needless to say, there was no gratuity coming, in fact, a note was drafted that said “Thanks for making calculating your tip so easy.”

Surely, I am not the only person this happens to and like I said, it seems to be an epidemic in the service world.  When was the last time you went to a store and needed assistance and actually got taken to the location of the item you were looking for?  Does that even happen anymore?  I mean good luck in finding a worker first of all, then if you do they generally just point you to where it may or may not be.  I have been kind of doing a small experiment lately in that when I call to see if an item is available to ask more about the item and unanimously I get the same answer, “I really don’t know.”  Okay so let me get this straight, you are not sure if you have it first of all and second you know nothing about it.  Wow!  Congrats on your career choice!

Is it really too much to ask that, you set aside what you are doing, ( in some cases it is texting your friend) and give me your focus so that you can possibly make some more money?  I am not asking for you to manufacture the product, just get me to where it is so I can get my hands on it.

Now I don’t want to get preachy…..but,

I work in the service industry, I know what it is like to be busy and have to deal with servicing the customer.  That is just it, servicing the customer, if this is the business you have chosen, guess what, you chose it!  There really isn’t an industry or business around today that we are not waiting, servicing or taking care of a customer, be it internal or external.  All of us need to be willing to stop what were are doing or at least politely request a second, and help those that we rely on to pay our bills to the fullest of our ability.  Don’t know the answer, admit it and say, “Let me find out for you.” then and here is the kicker, DO IT!  I am not looking for super service just to be left feeling important enough to come back again. 

I hear tell of a restaurant in town where you have your own personal server that just takes care of your table.  I also hear that you pay out the nose for the experience.  I will be the first to tell you that I have no problem in making it well worth the time for me to receive even decent customer service.  Why is that?  Because I have been there, I have been on the serving end and I know what it looks like to take care of the customer.

I could go on all day and half of tomorrow about this, but I am sure you get my point by now. 

Some helpful hints to those that may read this and say, “Hey that could be me he is talking about.”  First, look people in the eye when addressing them, it helps them feel important and can’t help but make you focus on them.  Second, give them you name, I love going to a restaurant and getting my servers name and using it. Most people love the sound of their name being spoken, gives them a sense of intimacy.  Third, Do Not! I repeat do not ask how everything is when people have food in their mouth.  Give them a second to get adjusted and check back, when you do, have drink refills ready.  Lastly, ask them to come back.  Again, they are paying your check. I promise you that if you do these things you will be taken care of in return.

Finally, let me say this.  It does not matter to me if you work at McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, or the Warren Duck Club.  If you have chosen to be in service, be in service and don’t expect anything in the end.  Don’t get me started on tip jars at the places that I am paying you to do certain tasks, then you want a tip for handing it to me.  Understand that the customer is not always right, but they are always the customer. 

 

About the author:  Ernie Osborn is just a regular joe that sees life around him a little differently.  He is a former youth leader that believes that life should be lived to the fullest.  His views and opinions may or may not reflect those of Tulsa Today.  Ernie serves as Concert Editor for Tulsa Today.  (In other words, if his writing strikes you and makes you think, great, or if it just makes you laugh and scratch your head that is fine too)

Last week, a group of Tulsa business leaders made a presentation to Tulsa City Councilors with the hopes of obtaining their blessings to move forward on a bid for Tulsa to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.  Making frequent references to Atlanta’s 1996 games, they insist the idea isn’t as farfetched as it may sound.

In 1990, when Atlanta won the right to host the Games, they were considered a long shot among the heavy hitters in the bidding war.  Indeed, the sentimental favorite to host the games in 1996, which would mark the Centennial Olympic Games, was Athens in Greece, the first city to host the modern games back in 1896.  The other cities bidding were Toronto, Belgrade, Manchester and Melbourne. 

Atlanta won out and though considered to be an over-commercialized spectacle that cost around $1.8 billion dollars, the games in 1996 managed to turn a $10 million profit and have proven to be a catalyst in the modernization of the northwest Georgia city. 

In their pitch to the International Olympic Committee, the organizers in Tulsa plan to rely heavily on the model used by the Atlanta organizers, which also mirrored that used in 1984 when Los Angeles hosted the games.  Therein private funding will be heavily used to construct necessary venues like an Olympic Stadium and Swimming Center, and certain events like soccer will be “farmed out” to Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater and to OU’s Memorial Stadium in Norman.  The U.S. Olympic Committee is already planning a training center along the Oklahoma River in OKC, so that could be a viable venue for rowing and kayaking.  Grand Lake and others in northeastern Oklahoma could be used for the other boating and yachting events as well.

Those are but a few of the challenges facing the Tulsa organizers.  Lodging for the sea of Olympic fans and the international media is a big concern in a town not well known for its vast hotel space, but in addition to new construction, the idea of docking shallow draft cruise ships in the McClellan-Kerr Navigation Channel at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa is being tossed around, as well as utilizing hotel space in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City, just an hours drive from Tulsa.

Several cities worldwide compete for the right to host the Olympics every four years.  Tulsa is one of four American cities that are either seriously bidding for or are considering the idea of bidding to host the XXXII Olympiad.  The others are Boston, Detroit,and Minneapolis-St. Paul.  The USOC will only support one of those four and Tulsa is a long shot there first.  Detroit has bid for the games a record 7 times dating back to 1944, (Los Angeles tops them with 9 bids, but has hosted twice), and it’s easy to see why they’d be the sentimental favorite.

You don’t have to look very far these days and you will see it.  A complete and total lack of those who are willing to serve for no self gain what-so-ever.  Don’t get me wrong, some completely selfless acts do still exist, but is it as common as it once was?

Leads me to ask the question, "Whatever happened to……Civil Service?"

You know what I mean, public officials serving for the simple act of serving.  Not for political gain, or to pad their  pockets with lobbyist monies.  I think that the farther we move away from the "Boomer" generation the worse it seems to get.  I can’t help but look back at those in service in the latter days of World War II and see how not only our voted officials operated, but how there was much more a sense of caring for those around you.

In my opinion ,the more patriotic the country is, the more you see people doing for others and the more you see bi-partisan politics happening.  Now that being said, and no disrespect to the families and victims of 9/11, but we have not seen a real outpouring of patriotism since the second plane hit tower two on that fateful and horrific day.  In the days that followed, when people didn’t know whether to bend over and kiss it goodbye or hold on to each other, most chose the latter.  Remember seeing our politicians leave the Capital building and sing together on the steps. Why didn’t we get anything going then?  We were all getting along like a group of three-year-olds in a sandbox.  Why didn’t we roll up our sleeves, scrap the political parties and work together for a "more perfect union?"  Why not? 

Am I calling for a tragedy to befall the country in order to generate patriotism?  By all means no!

What I am doing is pointing out an observation.  Back before I was born, during JFK’s Inaugural address, he made a statement that will forever live on, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?"  What the heck happened to that?  Was that just a statement aimed at Mr. and Mrs. John Q Public, or was this statement meant for all of us that live under the Constitution of the USA.  I have to say that we have (and if I am the only one who sees this, we are screwed) managed to carve a very poor sect of life in our country.  Gone, it would seem, are the days when those that we placed in public office served as our voice.  Is the country really being run "by the people, for the people" or is it just everyman in office for themselves? 

Do you even stop to think about it anymore or just turn a deaf ear thinking that, what is done is done and there is nothing that can be done to fix it?  Remember quite possibly the greatest tool we, the average Joes, have is our ability to cast a ballot.  For our voices to be heard and to send a person to office who has our, yours and my, best interest in mind and report back to us what is really happening and what they are doing about.  Oh and by the way, find out if it is really what we want.  Did we completely lose that part of it?  When is the last time that you were contacted to get your opinion on any leader’s approval rating?  I for one have never been contacted.  At what point does one transcend from being a citizen to being a super-citizen who no longer requires accountability?

Now I don’t want to get preachy here but…….

We all know full well that politicians, in most cases, have very good intentions when they begin to run.  I believe that Obama really thought he could go and make "change" happen.  The problem is that once he got there he ran into the same old crap that has been going on for years.  The frozen chosen that have been in office way too long and have gotten comfortable in their lifestyle, that have lost sight of what America and Americans are really all about.  I am not about to try and wrap my brain around why this continues to happen.  I am also not fool enough to not know that absolute power corrupts absolutely.  I guess my question is, "Why is it that we limit the President, the "highest office in the land" to 8 years of service and yet we allow of State and Federal Representatives to fossilize in office?  Doesn’t it seem right that at some point you give someone else a shot to see if they can maybe right the ship or at least get it out of dry dock?  I say this, you get 10 years to make a difference, if in that time the people you represent can say you have done a great job, (and I mean normal people) then you get 4 years to train up the next batch. 

We the people deserve better and more than what is going on in our country, states, and cities currently.  Like the old saying goes, lead, follow or get out of the way.  Stop getting rich in office and start putting the plans of the people back into play.  We put you there and we can take you out.  It is time to stop believing you are anointed and realize that all you were was appointed to a job and it is a temp job at that.

 

About the author:  Ernie Osborn is just a regular joe that sees life around him a little differently.  He is a former youth leader that believes that life should be lived to the fullest.  His views and opinions may or may not reflect those of Tulsa Today.  Ernie serves as Concert Editor for Tulsa Today.  (In other words, if his writing strikes you and makes you think great, or if it just makes you laugh and scratch your head that is fine too)

 

Yesterday afternoon’s hurried conversation in line at Borders Bookstore in midtown was interesting.  A mom with four adult daughters in line to check-out were discussing trinkets within reach when mom chided one of her own saying, “If you would do a better job as a teacher America wouldn’t be in the mess we are in.”  

I turned and said, “Maybe it’s my fault.  As a journalist I should have written more and in more ways made clear the fundamentals of our nation, why and how they are now at risk.”

“They are pushing us into Socialism,” she whispered softly – as if she feared the Gestapo might be listening.

“I believe they have made it to Marxism,” was my reply, but it was not an argument.  It was a difference in degree and she looked sad. 

How bad have we been betrayed by Barack Hussein Obama and Democrat Leftists now controlling America?   Stampeded into continual concocted crisis caused by government, but blamed on everyone and everything else – Obama blames capitalism, but Hitler blamed Jews successfully with the help of his media contemporaries.  Regardless, as administration officials say, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

Avoiding substantive policy or honest ideological debate during the campaign, Obama in glittering generalities of soaring rhetoric won on personality.  Now the substance of the man is revealed to be nothing more or less than anti-American delusions, class warfare and personal corruption sacred to Democrats.  His crowd sees themselves as the global Left secure in their intellectual superiority, but wait – their heroes despise them.

Monday, Bruno Rodriguez, the Cuban foreign minister, called President Barack Obama an "imperial and arrogant" liar for his conduct at the U.N. climate conference, a reflection of the communist island’s increasingly fiery verbal attacks on the U.S. government.

Rodriguez spent an hour and a half lambasting Obama’s behavior in Copenhagen, telling a news conference, "at this summit, there was only imperial, arrogant Obama, who does not listen, who imposes his positions and even threatens developing countries."

He called the summit "a fallacy, a farce" and singled out comments Obama made during a news conference in Copenhagen, when the U.S. president said no agreement had yet been reached but he was confident one would before the summit ended.  "Obama knew he was lying, that he was deceiving public opinion," the foreign minister said.

Finally Conservatives and Cuban Communists have something in common, they both know Obama lies and climate change is a farce designed to seize and transfer wealth.

How about Iran?  Obama damned George W. Bush for “cowboy” diplomacy while saying change meant talking without advanced conditions or substantive change of Iranian behavior.  Obama officials did meet with Iran.  How’s that working?  Have they restrained themselves from threatening rhetoric or the production of nuclear weapons?

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday dismissed the most current ultimatum, set by President Obama and international allies, for the country to agree to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. "We don’t care" about deadlines, Ahmadinejad said in a defiant speech to supporters in the southern city of Shiraz.

"We are not afraid of sanctions against us and we are not intimidated," he said, addressing the West.  He gloated that his country is "10 times stronger than last year."

Wow, that’s pretty good.  One year of Obama bowing worldwide and Iran is 10 times stronger.  Now that is a change you can believe it.  Where are those anti-nuke protesters from the Left?  

For that matter, what happened to the feminists as Sarah Palin has been brutally abused?  Oh, that’s right, only Leftists can count on feminist support.  Hey David Letterman, you are older than I am and your child is younger than my grandchildren.  Granted, most older men like younger women, but you are creeping us out with your personal life and office playthings.  Then with the audacity to attack Palin, Letterman isn’t funny.

The American Association of Retired People (AARP) CEO Barry Rand wrote a letter I received today asking that I join.  I wrote back, “My extended multi-generational family loyalty to AARP ended with your organizational greed demonstrated dramatically during the current health care debate.  Government control of individual health care decisions is contrary to the Constitution of the United States of America.  I will oppose AARP personally, professionally and publicly for the rest of my life should AARP continue on this path.

“Older Americans and the very young will die as those who “manage” care apply cost-benefit analysis for the so-called greater good.  That is totalitarian.  That is contrary to the principle that each citizen holds an unalienable (provided by God) right to life, liberty, and property that can not be taken by government without due process.

“While selling Medicare Supplements may profit AARP under this new Marxist plan; you have sold your organizational soul, betrayed your membership and may well contribute to the collapse of the currency.  Writing checks without value results in individual arrests for criminal activity and government doing the same on the backs of our children could well destroy this nation,” I concluded to Mr. Rand.  Ok, so he caught me at a verbose moment.  

There is accountability coming.  Americans are wakening at book stores and around kitchen tables and many are deeply angry at both parties.  Surprise, the Tea Party movement is currently polling stronger than Democrats or Republicans.  Oh, you are not surprised?  Then you are ahead of the power elites in government and media currently dumbfounded if not oblivious.

You would think the third branch of government – the Courts – would speak up on some of this, but then again you know what you call an attorney with a 50 IQ?  Answer: Your honor.  

Personally, I am praying for the rise of a “Constitutional Party” in America.  An affiliation of patriots dedicated to return American government to lawful operation as specifically limited by the Constitution.  Do you think the Courts will be able to grasp the concept of a simple, “do your job – protect and defend the Constitution?”  God knows and the people are learning how deeply the Democrat Congress and President Obama have failed in that legally binding oath.

The matriarch in Borders questioned Obama’s birth certificate – a document costing around $10 most Americans can produce on demand.  President B. Hussein Obama has spent millions and many years to hide his.  I wonder if Obama got into college as a foreign exchange student and what classes he took and what papers he wrote – joking of course.  All of that has been hidden deliberately with effort – kind of like insiders hid Tiger Woods’ fooling around.  Don’t interrupt the spin.  Touch not the anointed.

Political parties should specifically center on core public beliefs and provide proving grounds for vetting potential leadership.  Ideally, by working in group, prospective candidates for public office can be observed and judged on work ethic, principles, honor, education, wisdom, honesty and candor – over time, sometimes, or not as with specific Republican betrayals.

President Obama and Democrats are proving their standards – a revelation of true desire.  They, with some Republicans, consider themselves the government elite and no matter what crisis may come – elites are always needed to placate the unwashed masses thus earning personal power, money and prestige. 

It doesn’t matter what elites say because the only point of public speech is to stir the masses in support of elite control of government’s role in dispensing benefits stolen from productive citizens.  Blaming natural events or personal inadequacy or general incompetence on others, preaching how good people have been victimized by (fill in the blank).  

Again, just as Hitler blamed the Jews – Democrats blame Bush well beyond any reasonable level of justifiable accountability.  Some people just love to demonize, but if the insane government spending collapses the value of the currency,  Congress will have proven themselves, by their own acts; truly anti-American. And the boys of Oklahoma may well visit to talk with them about personal accountability … with civility of course.

The Class II Technical Standards and MICS regulations recently published by the NIGC and the commission’s stated intent to restrict one touch bingo games with a bulletin and enforcement action are no less than the formation of what I call an ETR – Electronic Technology Reservation. Yes, I said “reservation.”

The dictionary defines technology as: The branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment. And the dictionary defines reservation as: A tract of public land set apart for a special purpose, as for the use of an Indian tribe. It also defines reservation as the act of keeping back, withholding, or setting apart. In this case, the area that is being set aside by the NIGC “for a special purpose for use of Indian tribes” is a fraction of the electronic
technology available to use for Class II games.

When Congress created the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) they intended for us to have maximum flexibility with regard to electronic technology in our Class II games. Since this new “reservation” seeks to keep tribes from so much valuable technology and to restrict tribes’ technological flexibility for Class II games, it is also consistent with the dictionary definition of keeping tribes back (or should I say down?).

Don’t let anyone fool you into believing this new reservation is in the best interest of tribes. I cannot give you one example of how a reservation was ever in the best interest of an Indian tribe. The fact that tribes are being placed at a technological disadvantage in this dynamic, fast growing marketplace has at least two obvious analogies:

• Tribes are once again getting the worst “land” and told that it is good enough.
• Tribes are again being put at the disadvantage when dealing with states, which is a critical step in taking
all economic benefits from tribes and thereby making them once again dependant.

This new ETR has a chilling effect on tribes as it creates the opportunity for NIGC, BIA and other federal agencies to enlist the Department of Justice to bring criminal actions against operators, manufactures and business committee members if we venture off this new reservation. The NIGC chairman says that will not happen as long as we are compliant with the new regulations. But isn’t that what they said about staying on our old reservations?

Class II is the foundation of Indian gaming as structured through the IGRA. It is the category of popular games for which tribal governments have primary responsibility. Before IGRA there were NO classes of gaming, period. There was only “legal” and “illegal.”We as tribal leadersmust preserve the niche that
was carved out solely for us – Class II. Without this on our gaming floors, it could all one day disappear.

The Class III invasion of our gaming floors is an assault – people need to be cognizant of the dangers of this onslaught.

Let me tell you a little history of a few of our tribes. Before the first European set foot upon what we call Turtle Island, we had no horses. Think about what I just wrote. There were no thoroughbreds, quarter horses, paints, or even appaloosas.

We were people who could not travel great distances.We were primarily an agriculture-based economy and lifestyle. We would kill the buffalo and other game that were close to us, use those for the entire year, and wait for their return. But we didn’t have the means to pursue herds.

It wasn’t until the Europeans brought horses onto this land and those horses were captured or turned loose that we had mobility.We as a people began to catch and ride the horses. We became very good at it and we became a horse riding culture. We became nomads traveling great distances to track and kill the buffalo. After many years as a horse culture we began to lose our agricultural heritage and primarily became hunters.

The federal government saw that the way to control the Indians was to control our sustenance, our food stock. So, they developed a federal policy to destroy the buffalo herds by killing, and not using, bison by the millions. At the same time, they forced us on to barren reservation lands.We lost our food supply. Because we had surrendered our agricultural heritage, we no longer had the ability to fend for ourselves when the bison herds were destroyed. We became dependent on the handouts of the federal government.

Today virtually the same thing is happening, but in reverse order – the NIGC is trying to push us onto a barren electronic technology reservation which would make us vulnerable to the loss of the modern day bison, Class III gaming.We are faced with a very hard decision – do we move to an all Class III culture and turn our backs on our heritage and history? Or do we continue to cultivate the Class II arena?

If we protect our access to viable Class II games then, when our Class III compacts come up for renewal, we will not have to bow down to federal and state pressure to give more of our revenue stream to others because we will still have the ability to offer a game that is fast, fun, and profitable.

On the other hand, if we do not continue to use and purchase Class II games, Class II manufacturers have told us they will no longer produce these games. They will all move to the Class III market, we will forget what the Class II games were all about and we will lose the Class II option.

Without Class II games, when the states want more of our revenue through our new compacts, we will not have leverage to negotiate as we will not have an alternative to fall back on. Without a healthy supply of Class II games at our disposal, our ability to offer Class III games (without having to turn over most or all of the income from those games) could disappear. It will be gone, just as the buffalo were gone.

When someone from NASA was recently asked if they could land a man on the moon, they responded they could, but it would take about six years. They had lost the infrastructure to man a mission to the moon. There were no modules, no space capsules and no rockets to get them there. It would all have to be built from the ground up.

 Well, so too it will be with the Class II option if we are not supporting it. When we will need those games (and yes we will need them one day) they will not be there. There will not be an infrastructure in place to put Class II gaming systems on our casino floors any more. We will be at the mercy of state and federal governments. They will have cut off our food supply and trapped us on an electronic technology reservation.

So, tribal reader, I am left with only one question for you – if you do not have Class II on your gaming floor, why not?

About the author: J R Mathews is Vice Chairman of the Quapaw Tribe and Treasurer of NIGA. He can be reached by calling (918) 919-6000 or email jr@ogahpah.com.