Customer Service

Customer service. That is almost a contradiction in terms these days. From the grocery store where they wing the products by so fast that you can’t see what is going on, to the support lines where you have to dial one for English. Customer service is a dying art.

I know someone that was at a pizza place over the weekend. It was a very windy day and they went in to buy a couple of slices to go. After his purchase he took his pizza slices to go in a box. On his way out of the door the wind grabbed the door form his hands. In an effort to save the door the wind grabbed his slices instead and flung them like Frisbees. The door was saved but the slices were all over the parking lot with the empty box. The vendor merely shrugged his shoulders and grunted returning to work. Granted, it was not the fault or the concern of the shop manager but that was an opportunity to turn a negative situation into a positive. He could have offered to replace the slices and been a hero. Instead this person went without and as a consequence will not go back to that shop. And as we all know, bad news travels faster than good and this event will probably cost the shop a couple of customers.

I am a manager in a local carwash and detail shop. If somebody misses the last coin alert or just ran out of change I will always give them a minute or two to rinse the vehicle off. It is not worth sending the customer away with soap all over it. It looks terrible and might ruin the paint if it is really hot outside. By helping the customer in this way they will always come back and you have made a customer for life. We need more Nice Guy rules in customer service. Answer the phone, don’t just let it go to voice mail. From the other point of view, if someone gives you good service let them know. I was in a restaurant with my family after a long drive over the weekend and we received incredible service. The people were friendly and went out of their way. We were far from home and it was not like we were regular customers, we had never been there before. When we were leaving I told them that it was one of the friendliest restaurants that I have been to. When someone or a business does something right they deserve to know. It has always been the rule that people will give a bad review before they give a good one. I don’t believe in that, of course because I am a Nice Guy. If I don’t have anything good or constructive to say then I will just shut the hell up.

Customer service should not be a thing of the past or the passion of Nice Guys, it should be a part of any good business. If there is to be an option when you call for service it should be to press 1 to be treated decently, press 2 to be treated like a slug.

Good Times

It is almost one of the times of year when Nice Guys get to do what they do best, be Nice. The end of the school year means scholarships. And our organization hands our scholarships to deserving students. I usually do not mention businesses or organizations, but ours is a non-profit so I do not see why I cannot. I belong to our local Kiwanis club. I am two times past president and I am also the Kiwanis Advisor to two area High Schools. It is very rewarding to work with these students. The run their own clubs, set their own agenda, elect their own officers and decide what charity raising events they want to participate in or what group of people need their help. My job is only to advise them, to act as a go between for their clubs and ours. Our club raises about thirty thousand dollars a year and we give nine thousand out in scholarships. I am the one that reports on the clubs activities and hands out the awards once the scholarship committee has decided who they go to. Working with the kids all year is great. When they get enthused about a project there is no stopping them.

There have been low points when they have a hard time rallying the club or other organizations take precedence. Many other clubs have mandatory meetings and the Key Clubs lose out at these times. The Key Club is the high school equivalent of the Kiwanis club. At these time it takes a little prodding but they always come around. Ti is exciting to see their functions in the local paper and the community get behind them. They help us at our Pumpkinfest in the fall, at bike rodeos, fishing derbys and many other activities that we run. They have run many of their own like a coffee house where kids perform and applaud in the style of the Beatniks in the 60”s, dances for the elderly, walks for cancer and raising money for Unicef. It is a good organization the gives them a sense of community and responsibility, and helps them learn what volunteering is all about.

We award five scholarships to those who have worked hardest and have given the most of themselves to the organization. I have the very desirable job of calling up each member to receive their scholarship. The look of appreciation that we receive and the thank you letters after is the reason that we do this. We have made a difference in their lives and they will continue the good work later on. Hopefully, they will even join our club when they go into society and start lives of their own. This will keep the good work going on and create more Nice Guys. It is good to be a Nice Guy when you can help others, it is good to help other when they are the people that are around you, and in the end aren’t all people around us?

Poorman's Compensation

Workman’s Compensation. It should be called Poorman’s Compensation. First of all you have to wait, and wait to see a doctor so that he can give his diagnosis of what has happened. Then there are the forms. Then you have to send copies of whatever pay you are still getting, if any. Then if you boss gives you a weeks pay when he doesn’t really have to, it throws their whole precious schedule off. I was injured six weeks ago and have received two checks from the Poorman’s Comp people. At least that is what they are making me and my family, poor. Two weeks in a row and I have received nothing. The idiot in charge of my case takes Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays off so there is no way of getting in touch with him. Then when I do have time to try and reach him he is always in meetings.

It is bad enough that I only receive sixty percent of what I was making full time, at least give me something. It was hard enough making ends meet before this. Now I have to wait, and wait, and wait for sixty percent if I am lucky.

Of course I am sure that the Poorman’s Comp idiot is deeply troubled by our situation. I am sure that he is losing sleep over the plight that we are in.

I am on twenty hour weeks of light work and my doctor has just told me that it is not healing fast and it will be another month of light labor. If I can at least get a Poorman’s Comp check I would feel a bit better about this situation and maybe pay a bill or too.

OK. I am whining. If I am living and breathing I should shut the hell up, so I will.

For today.

Obsolescence

You don’t have to be a Nice Guy to be annoyed by planned obsolescence. It almost seems to be a trademark of a successful American business. We see it in appliances, automobiles, outdoor equipment, power tools, the list can go on and on.

I think that it is even more annoying when coupled with a developer that increases their profits by using substandard materials that are designed with planned obsolescence in mind. We bought a house thirteen years ago. A beautiful house that we had built to our designs. We could not afford many upgrades, we choose to upgrade the carpet pad because this makes the cheaper carpet last longer. It did. I installed all of our boxes for the ceiling fans and all of the extra phone and cable boxes before the sheetrock was up. This saved us a lot. Most of the materials in the house was guaranteed for ten years, which was when things started going wrong. Our roof needed repair and after researching we found out that the brand that they used is involved in a class action lawsuit. Great, we will wait years for that.

I like performing maintenance on things that we own, it makes them last longer. When I tried to drain the water heater that was installed I found out that they bought the cheap model with no drain, with no drain the sediments build up and ruin the heater. So, I guess we will be replacing that soon, just like our neighbors. Our windows, well, we can see through them, that is a good thing. If they are not locked the top will not stay up, they make horrid noises when we use them, and the company that made them does not exist anymore. I bet the builder got a real good deal on those. The bathroom fan/vent was vented into the attic. I am glad we found that out before we got mold. I am not a fat guy by any means and the utility closets are so narrow, (cheaper doors) that I cannot fit in sideways to retrieve what I want to. When the house was being painted the painter actually broke the door by accident because he got stuck and panicked. Some of the light fixtures that were used on and in our house we found at an area chain hardware store for around two dollars. They did not even put back steps leading out of our sliding glass door. We found out this was illegal when we took a picture of our house for insurance and they saw it. Of course, being a Nice Guy I just made a set of stairs.

They made a beautiful house but not to last. Meanwhile, he makes so much on these houses he does not even need to use the bank anymore for financing. He built a 130 house development and did this out of his own pocket. It does not bother me that he has done so well. He is a good person and I know him, have done work for him, but I wish he could have put more into his houses.

This episode taught me the difference between a builder and a developer. A builder might cost you more buy in the long run, there will be less planned obsolescence to deal with.

Some Day

Being injured and on Workman’s Compensation sucks. Being on WC because the boss did not want to get health insurance sucks even more. When he bought the business, I was asked if not having insurance “was a problem” and I said that I was 50 and yes it was a problem. The owner before him had it. He ignored me. A year ago I started to complain that I was becoming overwhelmed and we either needed another person or lighten the load. He ignored me. Now I find out from the doctor that if I had gone to get checked out it would not have gone this far and I would not be in continuous pain and wearing a spinal brace. I have tried to be a Nice Guy through this whole thing but it is getting hard. We were living paycheck to paycheck before and now I am getting 60 percent less than before. I maintain the business and keep it running while he stops by to collect the money which takes about two hours a week. This business was a novelty to him. When he bought it he said that it was so that his boys would have something to do when they got older. They were toddlers when he bought it!

Jobs are hard to find right now, even for Nice Guys. It does not help when you have physical limitations put on you for the job you have done for over two decades. It is a little hard to train for another job at my age when people look at you and see someone who they think might retire in a couple of years. Because of the damage to my back I have a hard time to even sit for long. If I had only been a dick and demanded that I get health insurance I would not be in this situation. There must be a dick training course for Nice Guys, I need to find it.

I went on a small trip with the wife this past weekend, just to get away. I ended up driving for almost five hours which is not biggie. This was the first that I learned about the limitations that I have for sitting. I wore the brace while I was driving but it only seemed a little sore. The next day was agony. No matter what I did my back was all stiff and sore. After going to the therapist today, she explained that this could be as bad as overdoing it at work. Great, I can’t even sit in a car without pain. And this month, we have to take trips with our children to colleges to check them out. One is a seven hour one way drive. If we had a van maybe I could lie in the back for the trip.

Some day, Nice Guys will be able to speak up not get into the crap that I have found myself in. They say that the meek will inherit the earth, aren’t Nice Guys meek?

Blogette

Short blog today. Just dropped our children off to go on a trip to a neighboring country. My wife and I are ‘running away’ for the weekend. I was a Nice Guy and resisted the urge to embarrass them by taking pictures in front of the bus, although it is a parental privilege. They have a camera and will get us plenty.

Cats

Our first house was way out in the sticks. Our back yard was 1600 acres of swamp, the only neighbors on that side were moose. Each house on the street had about two acres so there was plenty of room between the houses. It was a quiet neighborhood and we were at the end of a cul-de-sac. It was a good house to raise children in and animals as well.

We had one two cats when we moved there. One had come from our apartment and the other was from a friend that moved and could not have animals. Our neighbor did not believe in getting their pets neutered so guess where they ended up. Under out stairs having kittens. Well, we like cats so being Nice Guys we took the kittens in and had them fixed. We approached out neighbors and explained the situation to them and after a week their cat was gone. They said that they knew of some friends that had a farm and she was in good care. We took this as truth and went about our lives. A couple of weeks later we went on one our trips to the local Humane Society. We did this often to bring in supplies, blankets and to see the animals. While we were there we recognized a long hair calico cat. It was our neighbors. We were shocked that such a good natured cat should be discarded like this. So we did what Nice Guys do, we brought her home. We had to pay for half the cost of getting her fixed but now she was with her kittens. So at this point we had five cats. We love cats, remember. We also had a dachshund who was fond of terrorizing the cats but being short of stature did not fare well at this, he soon learned. After a while word must have got out that we had cats at this out of the way home because they started just showing up. People would drop off cats and drive away. At one point we had seventeen cats, most of which stayed outside, were not totally crazy. We did not want the population to get out of hand so we made a deal with the local Humane Society and they helped us pay for the cost of getting the cats fixed. It was quite a task to catch all of them to do this. I ended up at the doctors once, nothing major.

Not only did people drop off cats but baby squirrels and birds as well. What are we supposed to do with these? We are Nice Guys, not veterinarians. We found places that would take them and brought them in to be brought back to health and released. Luckily our population stopped at seventeen, in fact, because of the Fisher Cats it declined. It was a hassle but we felt we had to do what we did. If we had not there would have been thousands of cats in ten years. A friend of mine that hunts offered to take care of the excess felines but I could not do such a thing. Our children used to watch as seventeen cats milled around the sliding door waiting for food. It was really quite entertaining.

We have three cats now. Three lazy, freeloading hoodlums that we would not do without. Two tabbies and one black cat.

When a Nice Guy finished a day with the usual rabble it is nice to come home to an animal. Cats or dogs they are always happy to see you and they will listen to anything.

Movie Time

Have you ever been a Nice Guy and loaned somebody something? Did you get it back? I have done that in the past but I have learned. There are probably two people on this planet that I would loan something to. Very good friends. I have had people ask to use tools and instead of loaning them, I have brought then over a done the work myself, just to be sure they come back.

I am a huge movie buff. I love to share movies with people so that we can talk about them. I don’t think that will happen again unless it is one of those two people. I loaned a movie to a friend and co-worker about a year ago and have not seen it since. It was an old movie with a great cast. True Romance was the movie. First of all it took them about three months to watch it. For me, that would be torture to have a movie in my possession that long and not watch it. They finally watched it and enjoyed it. I asked numerous times if they were going to watch it again, as a hint. They did not, they also did not return it. I can sometimes understand a tool not being returned. You put it in the garage or the shed and you forget about it until the owner reminds you. But a movie is in you living space. You watch other movies and they are usually kept in the same area. What is up with that? After asking a couple of times, nicely, like a Nice Guy, they left because business slowed down. I even called their house and gave them the old “if you happen to be in the area” hint, to no avail. I like my movies, I like to watch them numerous times to see different things I might have missed. Now I have to buy another True Romance. Because this person is either an idiot or does not care I need to re-establish my ability to see Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Bronson Pinchot, Chris Penn and a very short appearance by Samuel Jackson. How can someone be so uncaring as to keep me from watching these great actors perform together? We worked together quite amicably for a year and then they pull this. When they said they had never seen this movie I was horrified, and, being the Nice Guy that I am let them borrow the DVD.

Well, it has been over six months since I last saw my copy of True Romance, I do believe it is gone. It is time to venture out to our local shop that sells used videos and find a nice copy. I usually watch my favorite movies twice a year. It is amazing what you can see after repeated watching’s. My favorite is when I see an homage to another movie that an actor has played in. Most of the time it is a thinly veiled homage. This Nice Guy will not loan this one out. I will be Greedy Nice Guy and keep it to myself. You can borrow a screwdriver, but don’t touch my movies.

Automobiles

Let me start by amending my last blog. I would hold the door for anyone immediately behind me no matter who it was.

There, that’s settled.

Automobiles. Is that not one of the easiest ways for the proverbial Nice Guy to be taken advantage of. Luckily, I do know a little about them so I don’t get caught too bad. When I find someone trying to catch me that is the last time I will go there. We did get caught one time. We had a beautiful 77 T-Bird that we kept in mint condition. Every inch sparkled and looked like new. We even bought an identical model and color to use a spare parts. Took it all apart and set them aside. Used some, sold the rest. But anyway, we had some trouble with the transmission. Did not shift right and it was getting worse. Did not notice any oil on the ground. I checked everything I could think of and did not find anything. Well, transmissions are kind of mysterious as compared to a motor. If the expert says that it needs a $700 overhaul you usually believe them. We sunk some other money into it earlier and were afraid that this was not going to end. Best to cut our losses and sell the car while it ran nice and looked good. We did all right. We ended up making money on it after driving it for four years. Can’t complain. A month later the gentleman that bought the car stopped by. He was really happy. When we sold him the car we told him about the slight slip in the transmission. It seems that he had it serviced and found out it was a two dollar gasket. Good for him but I was bummed. We would probably kept that car for a long time but I guess the transmission shop either misdiagnosed the problem, or they were looking for a quick way to make some money. I give them the benefit of he doubt, being a Nice Guy, but I never went back there.

Nice Guys (and Gals) with cars can be easy targets if you know nothing about cars. Went to another shop for a tune up on our CRX. They wanted to charge us $180. Did it myself for fifty, a real thorough one, too.

Nice Guys are also the one that usually gets hit by someone with no car insurance. Who does that? If you don’t have any I think you would drive a little safer. No, it doesn’t work that way either. The Nice Guy is left with a pencil and a nearly blank piece of paper with information that will not add up to anything. We will bang it out so it doesn’t look too bad then go to see a friend that can fix it better. Then we will barter with the Nice Guy that is fixing it and keep the entire Nice Guy community happy and busy. Meanwhile, the jerk hits another car, probably owned buy a Nice Guy.

A technician visited our shop a couple or months ago. Nice Guy. He stayed while his wife backed the car out to go to a convenience store and t-boned a cement abutment. Crushed the door. He informed me sadly that it was a rental and his was still in the shop from the last accident. This could not have happened to a Nicer Guy. At least he wasn’t hit by some joker with no financial responsibility. I am going to drive home now, very carefully.

Thats What a Nice Guy Does

As a Nice Guy, how should we bring up our kids? Should we burden them with the same crap that we are constantly dealt or should we enlighten them. I tried to chose a happy medium. They know that I am a Nice Guy. They can tell by how I deal with situations and people. They can tell by how I deal with them. They have even seen me dip into the dark side. I regret that, but it happens. We can only take so much.

I am a peaceful person and have only raised my hand to someone once. That was way before kids and they deserved it. Broke the bastards nose.

Our kids learn what they live and ours learn patience, chivalry, kindness and not to be taken advantage of. Be a Nice Guy and let the other driver go, it might stop a case of road rage and besides, If I don’t will we get there any faster? They have even witnessed me let someone know that their drivers side brake light is out when I don’t know the person. I do regret when they see how I have been treated at my job. They have seen me work my butt off and get walked out on. How do I explain that? They have seen both of their parents sacrifice so that they get what they need. Not what they want, but what they need, there is a difference. They have joined charity organizations in school and are becoming Nice Guys on their own. I am proud of them. If they can see both sides of the human animal and choose the side that can benefit society, we have done the right thing.

In the end I think they can achieve a better balance than maybe I ever did. They have seen the pitfalls of the original Nice Guy so now they have the knowledge to create their own hybrid, one that can survive and thrive in this world. I hope so. I don’t want to see them stuck working with Golden Boys while wearing a back brace for the rest of their lives.

But, as long as I am living and breathing I can’t complain. I had a friend that was also a Nice Guy, would do anything for you. He was so selfless that he died of cancer at forty seven. So busy working that by the time he found our, he sold everything he owned just for a diagnosis that it was too late. Another Nice Guy bites that dust.

I just went to a free health screening last week. You see my new employer didn’t want to keep the health insurance that my other boss had. I mentioned that in am earlier blog. Remember the “that’s not a problem is it?” blog. Anyway I passed with flying colors so it looks like I can be a Nice Guy for a while longer. I will continue to hold the door for ladies because it is the thing to do. I will bring my neighbor’s mail to him when I get it by mistake because it is the thing to do. You see, I am a Nice Guy, just a bit Angry sometimes.

The New Hire

Ever be a Nice Guy and hire someone that you think will be a great asset to the company and find that he will stab you in the back, or walk out, repeatedly? It’s very annoying.

We were getting very busy at the shop and needed help. After a couple of duds I finally met someone that seemed like he would work as hard as I do. I approached the owner when he applied and it was my desire that he hire this guy. It went very well for a while. Things picked up and he was able to handle the load. I was so pleased I actually started bringing in food to cook on the grill. Nothing like a great lunch to enhance the day. I learned things from him and visa versa. I sharpened my skills with things he brought to the job and he did as well.

The thing he could not handle was to be criticized. Products are valuable and at one point he was wasting that. When I brought this to his attention he walked out on me, twice. With a big smile and leaving me in the weeds. I did not raise my voice, I simply mentioned that he shouldn’t waste and he walked out. The owner said that it was his pride. I hurt it. Now I am in the weeds and he is mending his pride.

His expertise was quantity, mine is quality. This appears to be my downfall because the owner took him back like he was the perennial golden boy. I took great pride in the fact that I had over 800 customers that would come to only me and that I have been working for them for over 20 years. The golden boy cranks out five times what I do, if not more, but leaves my usual customers unhappy.

He has a major commonality with the owner, the Greed Gene. Just like in the movie Wall Street. I have never had the Greed Gene, I was cursed with the Nice Guy gene. The two of them have gone off to start an empire of quick cut rate service. I am left here with my loyal customers and a bad back.

Next time you decide to be a Nice Guy and give someone a break, think twice. They might give themselves a break. The only drawback is that being a Nice Guy, we always see the good in people and never expect to be backhanded. There is no way of telling. I guess if you become a realist and expect the worst, you won’t be disappointed. Any thing better than the worst is a bonus.

We could probably avert this if we were to deliver the first backhand, but that is not in our nature. Someday they will get theirs…yeah right. I don’t think it works that way. People like them will keep on delivering a substandard product, make lots of money a step on any Nice Guy that gets in their way.

But, there is hope, isn’t there?

Not All Bad

Ok, being a Nice Guy does not mean an entire world of doom and gloom. It also means that you probably do a lot for others and your community. I do a lot with a local non-profit community group. I help with area high schools and do lots of service projects. There is no better service project than the family centered projects during the Holiday season. We get information from our schools local guidance department and nurses. From these people we find out who is in need but is too proud to seek help. When children show up for school in the winter with only spring coats on, it is usually a good sign. Two years ago we learned about a family who was not only going through hard times because of job loss, but they had lost the mother on top of all of this. Still, the dad choose to remain silent and plod along as best as he could. When the school nurse saw the children severely underdressed, she question the children discreetly and found out what the situation was. They were not going to have a Christmas this year. Working with our clubs high school branch, we found out some pertinent information about the family such as sizes, likes and dislikes and the ages of the kids in the family. We set out to do Christmas shopping. Once this was done the gifts were wrapped by the high schoolers and Boy Scouts and they were delivered, again discreetly, to the family. We did this quietly so the father could bring the gifts into the household in what ever manner he choose.

As a club, we were happy with helping this family as we do for so many other in our community. We went about our business and it wasn’t until about a month later when we received a thank you letter. Everyone in the club was almost moved to tears. The father wrote and thanked us for giving his family Christmas again. Times were had and they had no money. They were no family members nearby that could help and he had prepared his children for season without gifts this year, not to mention without a mother. We did not only bring toys but we brought necessary clothing. We brought the family happiness and a degree of dignity to their holiday season.

As a Nice Guy, I enjoy these moments. It for outweighs those moments of being taken advantage of. The world could use a few more Nice Guys to help as we do. In fact I am getting ready to write my speech that I will need to hand out our clubs scholarships. We give out almost ten thousand dollars a year in scholarships to students that I work with.

Yes, being a Nice Guy can have its perks. This is what I have to remember when you get the occasional backhand from those who think they are superior…they aren’t.

The Workplace

It’s me, the Angry Nice Guy again. Is it me or does it seem like the workplace is one of the favorite places where people take advantage of the Nice Guy? I mentioned it previously in my first ANG blog. In fact I am going back to that job tomorrow with a back brace. My wife works for a place for 25 years and gets a pension and a 401k, I get a back brace. I am not bitter I just made the wrong job choice. But, back to the workplace and another Nice Guy debacle. 23 years ago, had my own little landscaping company with about 30 customers. One of my customers was a rich guy with a 3.5 million dollar estate. I worked for this guy for three years. Wrote up a contract and did everything from fall and spring cleanup to cleaning his woods of winter debris. I even redid all of his mulch beds, got rid of the aluminum edging and installed the large king size plastic edging. I would spend weeks there with three employees that were my friends. The third year we were doing about the same thing. This time we had to rent a chipper for two days to get rid of all of the fallen debris over the winter. After the contracted work was completed he indicated that he had some mulch beds that he wanted to get rid of and create more lawn. Well this was not too difficult and we were already on the job site so we continued and stayed there for another three weeks. We brought in loam and brought in sod. Everything went fine and the job looked good. We had to do some extra work because it was summer and we lost some of the sod. I finally packed up at the end of the job and was waiting for my check, I got one but it was way short of what I was owed. Short by the amount that was not in the contract by some strange reason. As rich as this guy was he stiffed me out of $13,000. I owed my workers money and now it had to come out of my own pocket. I tried to sue for the money but he showed up with seven attorneys and said he was going to file a countersuit. My lawyer was a good friend and he said that the judges at this time were siding more with the home owners than the contractors and the in this case we were outmanned. Discretion was the better part of valor was how he put it. So, I continued to work other jobs alone so that I could pay back the money I owed to my friends because after all, I am such a Nice Guy. They said that I didn’t have to, they are Nice Guys too. In all I was out $13k but I still had my friends. The unfortunate part was I was in the process of buying a house at the time and it made things very difficult. My only solace was that I grabbed some nice seedlings under some of his mature shrubs and got some nice plants out of the deal.

I did see him some years later and time has not treated him well. He was an advisor for a large bank which went under and it looks like it took him with it.

Beware of the work place, it seems to put targets on the back of the Nice Guy, even if you own the business.

If there are any other workplace please share them in a comment. I will read them while enjoying a cold beverage and it will become a bonding experience.

Nice guys finish last. Boy if that isn’t true. There must be some of you out there that know what I am talking about. How many times have we heard that? You know, always trying to do the right thing, proving that chivalry is not dead. But where does it get us? Last!

Thirty years ago I was going to a school for baking. Being young and energetic, I always rode my bicycle to class. It was only about fifteen miles, piece of cake. I enjoyed the class and got a nice workout. Little did I know that it turned out I was allergic to the mites that live in flour so that career was out. But anyways, half way through the course I was peddling through the main street of the town where the class was held. As I approached a large intersection a four ton dump pulled alongside of me. It was a huge old truck with the turn signal on top of the front fender instead of being integrated into the body. As we careened down the street side by side I saw that turn signal illuminate. Immediately after this illumination I realized that I could not see the driver, therefore he could not see me. I looked ahead and realized I was at the turn. At the moment of this realization the front tire started to turn in my direction. Crap! At the last second I dove off and onto the sidewalk, leaving my precious 1978 Fuji Grand Tourer to its own devices. The truck turned, the rear of the Fuji was crumpled and I was a mess of road rash. Nothing broken or permanently damaged, but I was a mess. I climbed off of the sidewalk and was surround by attorneys handing me cards. I turned from the and saw the driver get out of the truck. We was an elderly man and was visibly shaking. I was sore but I knew I was fine so went over to the driver and tried to console him. I assured him that I was fine. I was worried that he was going to have a heart attack. The police arrived and whisked me off to the hospital with my Fuji in the trunk. I was washed up and bandaged, did not take long. I assured the police that there was no need to press charges because neither of us could see the other. They told me the driver was ok. I got my Fuji back and with some prodding and bending was able to continue my ride to baking school. A very rough ride. The way home that night was one of the longest rides I ever had. A couple of days later I received a phone call from the insurance company of the company that the old driver worked for. They wanted to know what I wanted. I told them that “I wanted my bike repaired”. They did not believe me at first but after a lengthy discussion I convinced them that it was not solely their driver’s fault. It was mine as well but I would like my bike fixed. They sent me a check for a new bike. I was happy because I used the extra cash to not only fix my bike but give it some upgrades.

This is the way I have always approached life. Why ruin the old guys life for a wad of cash. Be a nice guy something good will eventually come of it. Right? Still waiting!

As nice guys, how many times have we heard that? It is almost a curse. When you are hired by a new owner one of the first things the former owner says is what a “nice guy” you are. Is this a code word for screwable?

As nice guys how many times have we helped others, or been there to listen when others were to selfish to lend an ear. A young lady that I worked with once took me aside and asked me how to spell this stupid little second grade word, can’t remember what it was. She said she came to me because she knew that I would not make fun of her and tell the other workers. She was right, I never did.

I want to set up this nice guy blog and see how many others out there feel like I do. I have plenty of time to do this right now because my boss kind of decided not to keep the heath care that that I had with the former owner. “Is that a problem?” was his reply. Yeah, I am over 50 I said. That didn’t sink in because now I am out of work with an injury that could have been prevented with regular care. So, I guess it was a problem.

So tell me, anyone else out there a nice guy that has been screwed because of this weakness, or flaw in our personality? If so, leave a comment and come back to see more posts, I have plenty.