Nurse! There's a ….
By Maria Weiskott, Editor-in-chief -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 9/1/2006
I had one of those Milton Berle experiences during my recent, unfortunate hospital stay. You know the old joke...
Berle: “Waiter! What's this fly doing in my soup?”
Waiter: “It looks like the backstroke, sir.”
Well, there I was sitting in my hospital bed, eating a bowl of vegetable soup, when I suddenly bit down on an unidentifiable something that didn't quite feel “right.” I thought I recognized the particle, but handed it to my husband for a second opinion. (Second opinions are de rigueur at the hospital, as I'm sure you well know.)
“Ouch!” he exclaimed, as we both observed an unmistakable tiny pool of blood, caused by the offending soup additive, forming on the tip of his index finger.
“What the...” he exclaimed as he marched off to the nurses' station.
A few minutes later he returned — finger bandaged — with the head nurse who, quite flustered, told us the kitchen manager would be up shortly to see the thorn I'd almost swallowed along with the peas and corn in my veggie soup.
Of course, the kitchen manager was apologetic and upset when she appeared in the doorway of my room, thorn in hand. She approached my bedside gingerly, casting a sheepish glance at my husband's bandaged finger.
“I am ever so sorry,” she blurted. “I've called our supplier and we are meeting about this incident this very afternoon,” she added.
“In the meantime, we want to make this up to you somehow. Do you like TV,” she asked, pointing to the blank screen directly across from my hospital bed. “We'd like to give you a free TV, to make it up to you.”
“Free TV? Free TV?” exclaimed my husband, waving his bandaged forefinger. “Make it a plasma TV,” he called to the now empty doorway.
Can you just imagine if we ran our businesses like this?
Customer: “Ouch! There's broken glass by the locked collectibles cabinet. I stubbed my toe on it.”
Salesperson, glancing at customer in open toe sandals: “Oh my! Let me call the store manager.”
Store manager: “I am so sorry! I've called the glass company and we will meet this very day on how the glass broke. In the meantime, how about some greeting cards for your trouble?”
Nope. Never happen in a gift store.
