It was a cold morning in Wichita Kansas,
but that was typical for Friday November 29th.
The stores were jam packed with shoppers taking advantage of the
Black Friday Sales, the sporting goods stores were no exception.
Charley wasn't in the best of moods, this was
something his wife used to do, he didn't like crowds, didn't like
having to stand in lines and as of late, didn't care much for
holidays either. He wasn't unusual in those regards because the
holidays, starting with Thanksgiving were hard on a lot of families.
It was a season of depression for some
and the lack of patience had come about and learned in a fast food
society where most everyone was used to getting what they wanted when they
wanted.
While the lines and crowds at Parsons Sporting Goods were not
nearly as bad as the big box stores like Wal-Mart or Best Buy is was
still substantially worse than any other time of the year. Lines were at least
5 customers deep on each of the stores 6 registers and although the store
had brought in extra help for the holidays there were short tempers
from some customers not getting the help finding things when they
needed. Most of the customer service reps were at the end of the line on
their nerves from trying to be patient with the customers. After looking through the store longer
than he expected for a specific soccer related item Charley finally decided to hunt
down a salesperson on the floor.
While the section for soccer wasn't the largest display in the store, it was still busy as soccer was a popular sport in Wichita.
Charlie, in his early sixties, was a little older than most in that department but he was persistent, coming off at times as a jerk. By the time he finally got a clerks
attention, one who had been talking to another customer, he didn't come of as just a jerk, he was brash and direct. "Excuse
me Miss, I've been in this store for 45 minutes now when can I get some help?"
Sandra was a young woman who had been raised in a close nit
family, she had learned manners but wasn't quite so used to such a direct
approach from a customer, especially when she was helping another customer, a
young mother looking for some Christmas deals.
"Excuse me sir, I am just about through, if you can wait another
couple of minutes I'll be glad to help you." Sandra was shocked at Charlie's
response yet kind in her tone.
"I've been waiting for 45 damned minutes lady, how much more to I have to
wait."
"I'm sorry sir that you've waited that long I'll be
right with you as soon as I am done with this customer,"
Charlie's response was short and to the point, "Dammit!"
Sandra was as she said, helping Charlie within a few moments
after helping the young mother. "I'm sorry for your wait sir, but how can I help you?" Sandra
for her young 21 years was as polite as anyone could be.
"Well I'm glad someone is sorry, I have things to do."
"Like I said sir, I am sorry but how can I help you?"
"I am looking for anything from the old Wichita Wings,
what do you have!" It wasn't as if Charlie
was asking, he was telling Sandra to show him some products, even though the Wings had not been in Wichita since folding in
1992, it was as if Charlie expected to find something from the old
franchise.
"I'm sorry sir, we don't have any thing from the old
Wings." Sandra responded with kindness. "I don't even think we have anything from the refurbished Wings that was in town the last 2 years before going under."
"Shit!" Charlie responded, "that team left a
lifetime mark on this city, what is the hell is it with not providing or having a
part of history available!"
"I'm sorry sir, we just don't carry anything like that."
Charlie was starting to turn red from anger now, the pitch of his voice
was changing, he was tired of waiting, tired of the
crowds, tired of not getting the help he wanted, tired of everything, while gritting his
teeth, he stated, "Can you get me your manager please?"
"I can get him sir, but it could take a little while,
he is really busy right now with keeping the stock room going with bringing out the needed
stock."
"That's what I would expect, a day you should have
known that you needed to stay on top of things but instead taking advantage of
customers and making sure that all your sales take place. It's all about making a dollar." What Sandra didn't
know was Charlie had already been to three sporting goods stores on this
crazy hectic morning. Parsons Sporting
Goods was the last hope.
"I'll be glad to the stock room sir and ask our manager for
you, but I can't guarantee anything as to having what you want." Sandra was
still a professional, still trying to provide good service. Of course from the exchange up to this point
she expected to have her head bitten off, she wasn't far off in her
expectation.
"Fine, go check with your damn manager, I've waited
this long, if you going speeds up the process I might get home in time for church on
Sunday!"
Sandra still polite responded, "Yes sir, I'll be as quick as
possible." Ignoring a couple of other customers, she left immediately for the stock room.
It wasn't long before she returned to
find Charlie still standing there, his arms crossed and he was staring off into space with an obvious lack of patience.
"Sir, I spoke to our manager and he stated that we
haven't carried any Wings stock for some time but he had a suggestion
if you are willing to entertain it."
Charlie still miffed, but somewhat responsive, responded in
a blunt way, "Okay what is it, what can you do, what's your suggestion."
"Well sir," Sandra still trying to be polite and
calm, stated, "Well sir our manager suggested that while we haven't had
any Wings items for some time, we have a new team in town, The B-52's, they have
pretty much the same color scheme and we have a pretty good selection of their
merchandise. They are a professional
team and our manager also suggested a friend of his who has a lot of old Wings
merchandise that may be able to help you out, but you will have to call him, but my manager did give me his phone number and contact information."
What happened next surprised Sandra, she didn't know what to
think but Charlie was tearing up.
"If
you could show me the items please from the new team and get me the name of
the person who may have some old Wings merchandise I would appreciate it."
Sandra, still staying professional and calm, "let me
walk you over and show you some of the merchandise, and here is the contact information of my managers friend who has the old Wings merchandise."
Charlie looked down at her hand as she handed him the information, he
wasn't tearing up now, he was starting to cry, his eyes were red and he kept
taking his gloved hand trying to dab the tears as they started to freely fell. "Thank
you miss, you have no idea what this is going to mean to me."
Sandra, confused and touched, stated, "Sir that is no
problem." Showing a real measure of concern she asked as well, "Are
you okay, is there anything I can do?"
"No young lady, you have done quite enough, you don't
understand likely and I know I have been an ass. You see my wife and I were
huge supporters for the Wings back in the day.
My wife and son were killed in a car accident last year during the
Holidays.
All I have left is my
grandson.
Alex will be 10 in January.
It was my son's 10th birthday when I
purchased him a Wings soccer ball and took him to see his first pro soccer game
at the Kansas Coliseum. We saw the Wings play the St. Louis Steamers.
It was a heck of a game and my son became a
fan for life.
I miss him and my wife so
much and wanted so much to give my grandson something for Christmas that would help
with the loss of his father and grandmother."
Sandra was starting to tear up now, "Sir, I am so
sorry, I would have never known, I am so sorry."
"Oh there is nothing to be sorry about young lady, you
have gone out of your way, been kind and I so much appreciate it. I think it may be time to move on and I don't
think the specific Wings material is necessary for my grandson, the B-52's will
be enough to rekindle the spirit, that is what is important, not so much the
team. It is the sharing of time together, the love, the memories. I think the
B-52's is enough for my grandson, I may even have to take him to a game, but I appreciate the information about the managers friend, it will bring back memories for me while I start new ones with my Grandson, I
think his dad and grandma would understand and like that."
"Sure no problem sir, I can do that, let's go look at
some of that B-52's merchandise now."
Sandra learned something that day, she realized it as she
saw a different man walk out of the store than she had encountered some 30 minutes
earlier.
She learned it wasn't so much
about customer service, she had already been practicing those things, but
she learned to always be nice to the customer, one never knew
what they were feeling or had experienced.
She knew at that moment, there were sometimes
good reasons for people to have difficulty during the holidays, it was also a time of year that a lot of people went through extreme and
clinical depression.
Sandra realized
the people mattered, she realized she could do her part by being a more understanding person.
It was
after all the time of year that celebrated the birth of the one called The Prince of
Peace, it was a time where people came together to give thanks for the
blessings in their lives.
With so many
hurting people, Sandra decided, she would smile more and in her own way, by helping
others, experience a different concept of the holidays she hadn't thought of
before, loving others unconditionally in the same way God had loved her and
others on this planet; unconditionally.
Mark 12:28-34 - 28 One of the teachers of the Law of Moses
came up while Jesus and the Sadducees
were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a
good answer, he asked him, “What is the most important commandment?”
29 Jesus answered, “The most important one says: ‘People of
Israel, you have only one Lord and God. 30 You must love him with all your
heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ 31 The second most important commandment
says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more
important than these.”
32 The man replied, “Teacher, you are certainly right to say
there is only one God. 33 It is also true that we must love God with all our heart,
mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves.
These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings
that we could possibly make.”
34 When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer,
he told him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.” After this, no one dared ask
Jesus any more questions.
The following video is also based on a real event that
happened in Newton Kansas,
just to the north of Wichita. The themes are the same, think about it, to
see the video just click on it, if the video doesn't appear, then click on the
following link:
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