A Culture of Incompetence…

My Father used to tell me, “do every job well, or not at all.” He also lamented on me with, “Once you start something, don’t quit. You don’t have to be the star, just do the best you can and don’t quit until it is over.”

What happened to our culture’s embodied values that included doing all jobs well, and taking personal pride in a job well done?

Over the weekend, I encountered examples, though small, but when linked together is why our nations seriously needs to reexamine itself if we are to rise again into greatness.

On six occasions I experienced incompetence. Let me please note, that I am easy to get a long with, and I am very tolerable of “honest mistakes.” But, too many of these events occurred in two days for it to be an exception to the rule.

I have felt over the years, due to many social factors that our standards as a nation are going down. I will focus here on standards in our work.

1. I start off my Saturday bright and early, go and workout at my gym, Sport and Health Club, doing “pull” day, then a short swim. After that, I returned to my house, got out with my mountain bike and hit a series of local trails that border either side of two large power cuts that prevent developers from tearing up some good woods and fields these trails crisscross. I have a great ride, and just in time to spend the rest of my day with my wife, Lorraine. We then go and had a good brunch with our sons and grandchildren. After that, my wife asks me to go with her to Macy’s. I hate malls and shopping, but she promises 30 minutes, so I go (plus I needed to walk off the meal I had just had).

My wife lets me wander around, and then we link up at the time we set. She had done well, she was standing in the cashiers line. But, what is the hold up? The guy in front me is making a scene because the cashier’s machine will not process his credit card. So, another person takes us to another checkout (great initiative on their part). We arrive, we slide my wife’s bank card through the little slide machine, and the cashier keeps saying denied, denied. So, he tries to call around to find out the problem. At that point the entire system crashes, it has happened all through the store. Big sell, lots of people, but not prepared for it. I overheard a women telling my wife that another cashier even told her that it was her (the customer’s fault) for having insufficient funds in her account.

The our cashier tells us it will be 30 minutes, so my wife says lets go have a cup of coffee over at IHOP. “Okay” I said, and we went.

2. Then, the second incompetence happens.  My wife and I go into IHOP to get coffee and tea. After telling the manager and two waitresses that all we want is coffee and hot tea, no desert, no desert (still they lay the desert menu in front of you).  We sit down, order our drinks, and the young waitress brings a cup of coffee, tea with hot water, tea bags, sweetener and a bowl of little creamers. When I went to place some cream in my hot coffee, it immediately showed me that it was spoiled when it curled in the cup. I finally get some creamer that is not spoiled, drink my tea, and we leave to go back to Macy’s to pay for and pick up our goods. When we get back there, everything is working, we get our stuff, and head back home, but first we must pick up my other car, which had a low tire.

3. After my wife orders the birthday cake for our granddaughter’s birthday, we go to pick up my car at the garage. It has a low tire from a slow leak.  I had dropped off my car with the garage en route back to my house because we only live two blocks away. So, I can drop it off, get the tire repaired and pick it up after we get back from our afternoon activities. Before I walked out of their office, I made sure that he knew if he could not reach me at home, then call me on my cell phone. I tell him I just want my tire patched, that is it. No calls all afternoon.

We arrive at the garage that afternoon, the car is parked in front of the office, with the right front tire still low. I go into the office to find out why. They want to sell me two new tires because they say the inside of the tire is shredded. How can it be I ask? The man replied that they tried all afternoon to call me, they called my home phone several times. I told them what was the last thing I said when I left this morning? The mechanic said, “yes, there it is on the work order, your cell phone.” I then told him the car just passed the Virginia safety inspection the week before. Of course new tires for an 1997 XK8 Jaguar are expensive. But, I don’t need new tires, I need the tire patched. I leave frustrated, put air in the tire to make it safe, then drive it home.

Why cannot you just tell people that you just want a specific thing done, and that is what they do?  Every time I drop off something like my vehicle, the mechanics always want to find more wrong that you know there is wrong, in order for them to make money. 

4. I woke up as always bright and early on Sunday. I went out in our backyard to sit with a cup of hot tea and enjoy watching my six dogs play in our landscaped garden, as if it were their play ground. My wife and I landscaped our small backyard upon my transition period from the Army to retirement. It includes four terraces, a small pond with a fountain and waterfall, two small brick porches, with roses everywhere, growing along the six foot high solid wood fence that surround two sides. One large and one small maple tree complete the private enclosure. The first time anyone sees the backyard, they ask, “who did you pay to do that?” We smile when we respond with, “we did it.”

I finished my tea, and then got my workout bag together, out the door and down to the gym for a good morning lift. I arrive at the Sport and Health club at 0800hrs on Sunday, as they should be open (I glance at the door at the schedule to see if I were not early, and it said “Sunday 8:00AM-9:00PM”). As I get there, the few workers have also just arrived, picking up the newspapers outside, and then filing inside, rushing to open and turn everything on. I don’t think anything of the employees just getting there as I do, it is Sunday morning, and everyone has late days.

I work out doing a “push” day for 40 minutes. After doing several sets of weights (Hammer Strength), followed by several sets of push ups and crunches, I am ready for my next phase, the steam room. I walk into the men’s’ locker room, and see that the steam room door is wide open, but no steam. I must let you know that in late June for two weeks the steam room was rebuilt and redone into a better steam room (five pounds off every session baby). So what is the deal now?

I go find several employees of the gym, and none of them know how to turn on the steam room. I finally get to the acting manager behind the check in/front desk. She says she does not know how to turn on the steam room. So, she tells me, “let me call my boyfriend, he works here and knows how to do it.” Meanwhile, another person, who has just worked out, walks up and tells the acting manager that she would like to leave a note for the manager. The acting manager replies, “well I have worked here three weeks, and I have not seen the manager once.”

Wow, I tell myself, that is &^%$ed up.

Anyway, I go back to the downstairs locker room, and join another guy, who is in the Army, at finding the way to turn on the steam room. After five minutes, I go and find the acting manager who tells me that she had talked to her boyfriend, that we were to find a gray box in the room, and turn that on. I tell her I did not see any, but went back anyway, giving her the benefit of the doubt. Of course, we could not find the gray box. I gave up, and left for home. On the way out, I decided to get myself something from the local Silver Diner, call them for a pick up and drive their way.

5. Once I am in my car, I feel better. I have it timed so I can arrive to pick up my meal, then head home to eat, read my emails, and hang out with my dogs (my wife had stuff going on with her friends) prior to my wife getting home and us going to the granddaughter’s birthday. Though I try to eat right six and half days a week, I want something I really like one day or just one meal a week. I love Silver Diner’s Southwest Griddle. I ordered gravy with it as well (it does not come with it).

I get there, walk in, and though the meal is not ready, no big deal, I pay for it, and read the Washington Post for the next five minutes. I get the bag they have it in, look inside to check the contents, and tell the waiter, that there is no tub of gravy. He points inside at a small container, and tells me that is it. Okay, I said, and drive home.

When I get home, I sit down at my computer, take out everything and lay it out. The gravy container is a little light. I open it up, and no wonder, it is empty. I thought about driving back across to Dale City, but it would take too long. I did a quick scan at the receipt, and yes, I did pay for the extra gravy. I will take care of it when I am nearby later.

6.  I ate my Southwest Griddle, which was very good, then rest for a bit in the backyard. I hit the mountain bike trail again, and by the time I returned, then cleaned up, my wife was ready to go and pick up the birthday cake she had ordered the day before, then attend the birthday. We have it time to drive the 30 minutes across the county, along the way pick up ice cream and the birthday cake. We stop at Giant Food bakery. My wife lets me go in because I am quicker and she wants to drive. I go in, call for the baker, and show her the invoice from the day before. She heads off, starts making calls and then comes back to ask me if I can wait? I said “Why?” “Well” she says, the order you wife made, was not done, so we will call the baker in and have him make your order.” With everything else going on, the last two days, I am at my last wits. I walked off, call my wife and let her come in since she made the order to handle this situation.

She handled it very well, got the acting manager, told him the situation along with showing him the original invoice dated the day before. Though she was very upset because she did not want to let her granddaughter down, she stayed calm, but firm. She also worked out a compromise with the acting baker, and put together something, not as nice as what she wanted, but as we would find out later, fill the bill. After my wife presented her case, the acting manager did not blink an eye, and gave us the cake and two gallons of ice cream free (around 50.00 dollars worth).

So we were on our way. And despite a frustrating weekend, Sunday ended nice because a 11 year old girl had a nice birthday.

But, what is the theme of my message here?  First, I know I have a great life, and for that I am thankful, compared to many millions of our fellow citizens. But, still, I see a problem, and I got to point it out, along with a solution.

Whenever I talk to business and civilian groups, I tell them how important it is to do periodic counseling. To develop your subordinates. Effective counseling enables them to award and punish their employees. What I encountered over the weekend was not an exception to the rule. Incompetence is so prevalent, that my wife and I or my friend Al Gill and I will always look at each other and say, “there we go again, more incompetence” or “are there any competent people anywhere?”

Since the 1960s, a myriad of law suits, laws, and the encroachment of political correctness has almost sapped our once great work ethic. Today, everyone is told they doing a good job, mediocrity is awarded, and if you try discipline or fire poor employees, there is the threat of lawsuits or someone going “postal.” So, managers today, simply avoid confrontation at all costs. They use “the hope method” when they are at their jobs. Their hope is that there will be no issues they have to confront and deal with.  Look at the case of the health club steam room. If the manager had been doing her job (14 years with that company), everyone would know everything on how to prepare the club to be ready when the doors open, not trying to get everything ready as people are walking in. And if they don’t know, they know who to ask or where to look.

So, we wonder why we cannot find presidential candidates who cannot solve the big problems.  It is because we cannot even master the small issues in our own backyard.