Once upon a time; a fairy tale.

Once upon a time,

• The customer was king and always right—they were not treated universally as the lowest common denominator.
• When you called a phone number for customer assistance, you’d reach someone in this country, possibly in your own time zone, and they did not just read you policy and explain at length how they are not going to help you. They usually had a decent command of English, and were polite on the phone.
• Companies treated people like their patronage was the reason the company existed, and not like customers have no other choice but to take what they are given and to suck it up if they aren’t happy.
• Companies competed for customers, and were not handed entire markets to exploit.
• Customer service was not a huge book titled: Policy. Individuals still mattered.
• Small businesses were integral to communities, and we kept our wealth local instead of sending it to China.
• Businesses hired adults who knew how to treat others, and not teenagers who care nothing about the customer or the business.

Once upon a time,

• Airlines served cooked meals on actual plates with actual silverware. They gave passengers eye-masks, slipper socks, and beverages and movies were included with the airfare.
• Airlines gave kids activity kits and real metal wings.
• Airlines did not charge to check baggage, or ask costumers with long legs to pay extra for legroom.
• Seats on airplanes were wider, and more commodious; and were not made so narrow so the airline could cram in another row of passengers.
• Airlines did not assume everyone who came aboard was a terrorist and treat them all as such.
• Flight attendants were fresh and kind, and not overworked and catty.

Once upon a time,

• People had manners and said please and thank you, and taught their children to do so as well.
• There were expectations on children, they had responsibilities and did not spend all day in front of a game console, on the internet or texting banalities to their friends.
• Parenting still existed, accountability and discipline was not something that parents dumped on the teachers and caregivers, but was something parents actually took responsibility for. They understood that they were the ones that brought the offspring into the world and they had a responsibility to prepare their offspring to live in it as conscientious citizens.
• You could go to a family restaurant and not hear screams and squeals of unruly children, and sit and dine without children running wildly around you.
• Parents wanted their children to do better than they did, so they sacrificed a great deal so their kids would reach greater heights—instead of living selfishly for themselves and having children and besetting them on the world unprepared.
• People prepared their children for the real world, and introduced them to disappointment and hardship—they did not give their children whatever they want, and praise them for everything, and teach them to have unrealistic expectations of life when they finally venture out on their own; creating burdens for others to carry and maintain.
• Children were taught a work ethic that would propel them forward in life.

Once upon a time,

• Seemingly educated people could spell.
• They wrote letters.
• They read books.
• Doctors weren’t so overwhelmed with patients that they bothered to know their patients’ names, and recall their health issues.
• Doctors took the time to talk to patients and hear their concerns.
• Elders were treated with respect and deference, not treated like an inconvenience.

Once upon a time,

• People were grateful.
• People did not hide behind faith and use it to justify questionable behaviour.
• People were not self-absorbed and uninterested in the welfare of others.
• They stood up for what was right.
• They did not always take the easy route.
• They did not sacrifice integral things for the sake of convenience.
• They had standards.
• They understood the concept of common consideration and courtesy.
• People did not believe that they were entitled to things, but that they had to earn them.
• People understood that to be truly respected, one must earn it.
• People knew that they lived in a community, and that with personal responsibility comes with social responsibility, and they did not live only to please themselves alone.

My first office special in a while. She actually
took a series of sessions to complete, due to
many interruptions.