#and its not even service people asking for this its some sort of of feelgood for the people who can give this much for no reason feeling

[sidabro]

its my turn to say that seeing memes and posts about the tipping culture in america makes my eyebrows reach my forehead.. sjfjjefbjshdi its 1-2 euros if the service is good no matter where when or how big the total is.. if i ate for a hundred eur i woulsnt be leaving 15 or even TWENTY? what fuck is this dbrjdhiwhdbe

[adventuresinclientservice]

Three client service aspirations to master in the new decade.

A few years back, I received an email from a doctor. I don’t recall this physician’s name, but I do recall what he said:   

“Would you consider working together on a book similar to yours, directed at the medical community?  I see lots of parallels between what you do and what I do; it really would be helpful.” 

I (sort of) get his point, but seriously? Medicine is about facts, diagnosis, and science; what I do (and write about) is about opinions, theories, and instinct.  The two could not be more different. 

But then I thought about my first-hand, operating-room experiences with the medical profession:  my hip replacement, my recovery from I-could-have-died cerebral hemorrhage, and, most recently, a hernia repair, something others might describe as ‘minor” surgery, but is what I define as, “surgery happening to someone else.”   

Getting myself fixed is like getting my car fixed: I know absolutely nothing about either.  But I do know I want at least two things:  candor and competence.   With this most recent experience, I got both, starting with my surgeon, who told me, 

“The hernia repair is relatively straightforward, but recovery can be a bitch.” 

To which I replied: “How bad, Doc?”   

“Really bad.” 

“Rank the pain on a scale of one to ten.” 

“Seven to nine.” 

“OMG; that’s kill-me-now pain!” 

Doctors rarely disclose how much you’ll hurt; they either downplay or dismiss the issue.  This one thankfully did not.  My misery didn’t approach anywhere near the level he predicted – if you must know, maybe on the worst day it crept to maybe a four – likely a testament to the surgeon’s skill in the OR.   It also might be the result of Doctor Feelgood’s ministrations – that’s the attending anesthesiologist – who mercifully plied me with the requisite, highly efficacious painkillers I took for a week post-surgery, before declaring myself sufficiently pain-free to rid myself of them.

 Speaking of competence, leavened with a healthy dose of kindness and compassion, I was the beneficiary of this from everyone else I came in contact with that day:  the admitting staff, the prep nurses, and the recovery nurse. 

Now, Napa is not New York, a metropolis of eight million, where, given its sheer size, you might rightly expect competence.  But in a town 99% smaller, I found myself struck by just how professional, efficient, effective, and yes, kind everyone was.  To a person, everyone seemed to be punching above their weight, but if I were to put this to the people I interacted with, they would look at me funny.  “Just doing my job,” they would say. 

With this latest procedure I was my usual anxious self, babbling endlessly as my nurses Marissa, Lisa, and then later Cannon, methodically but cheerfully walked me through pre-op prep and post-op recovery.  I was running on at the mouth so much they easily and rightfully could have become irritated or annoyed.  If they felt even a hint of that, they did not show it.  I frankly don’t know how they deal with nervous patients like me. That’s kindness/compassion for you. 

Tally these things -- candor, competence, kindness/compassion -- and you get the medical profession at its best.  Now think about client service.  Aren’t these the very qualities we prize? 

Take candor.  Without it, there can be no trust; without trust, there can be no relationship; without relationship, there can be no risk-taking work that performs the way it should. 

We might fancy ourselves the next David Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, or Jay Chiat, but few of us will come close to matching the creative and organizational genius of these agency founders.  And knowing how most clients are perpetually disappointed in and frustrated with their advertising and marketing agencies – witness how many clients are increasingly migrating to in-house capabilities -- I’ll gladly take simple, consistent  competence in all things client service over more inspired but less bankable options. 

The world is an ugly place – contentious and divided, with anger bordering on irrational, unreasonable, and irresponsible – where what’s needed most these days is a bit more concern and caring.  If we simply inject a measure of kindness/compassion in what we do, you put yourself  in your client’s shoes, walking in them rather than your own.  You listen a little harder, longer, and better.  You remain patient, even when the temptation is to scream. You ask about things that traverse the professional to the personal.  You connect with clients as people, not as paychecks. 

Many of us begin a new year, let alone a new decade, with all sorts of resolutions, some grand and unrealistic, others more modest and achievable, others not.  You might view candor, competence, and kindness/compassion as obvious or easy to master, but having been in this business more years than I care to admit, I think otherwise.  They are challenge to the medical profession, and they are a challenge to those of us striving to serve clients to the best of our ability. 

These are my aspirations for the new decade.  Yours? I welcome hearing from you.

[deadmantalking117]

DR. FEELGOOD

There's an opiod crisis in America. I read about it everyday. Thousands of people who take narcotics to get high. To blunt the pain of whatever is hurting them. Physically, emotionally, whatever. I don't even pretend to have any kind of solution.. I can only offer you an insiders perspective. My very first experience with the good stuff was right after I got married. I'd had a migraine for the third straight day.. I'd get them several times a year.. but this one wouldn't stop. My mom says enough is enough.. I'm taking you to urgent care. Kat had the kids.. otherwise she'd have driven.. she was concerned by now as well. Never had one last this long. At the urgent care.. the guy checks me out.. "are you allergic to anything?" "Are you ok with a couple of shots.. we'll get you feeling better" Not allergic.. hate shots.. but ok fine Demerol and Thorozine Nectar of the Gods I remember it to this day. Full disclosure time. I'm 24 now.. haven't yet run into the issues that are about to start soon. I dont really drink.. been drunk a handful of times. But I dont drink.. just never cared for it.. don't like the taste, don't like the feeling. I smoked some pot when I was 20-21 but I was always paranoid about getting busted.. plus now I have kids.. and you know what that means.. no money for pot. Tried cocaine a couple times. Kat and I would get a little for "date night". But we're talking birthday or anniversary stuff. So, pretty vanilla for a party guy. Just wasn't much of a chemical romance for me. My how things do change. Demerol and Thorozine No ecstasy so wonderful.. no bliss so complete. I went from being almost blind with pain.. to walking on a cloud.. I floated out the door to mom's station wagon. Such a pretty station wagon! My God.. look at that wood paneling! It sooo beautiful! I opened the door and folded myself in half to get in. Mom says "whatcha doing?" I don't wanna hurt the car by banging into it.. It's so tiny and beautiful... "I think you're covered.. put your feet on the floor.. put on your seatbelt please" Home again after the beautiful magic carpet ride full of neon and colors. In mom's beautiful woody station wagon. I floated thru door.. "Oh my, you look better" Kat laughs You are sooo. Pretty ! You know what would great ? Brownies! And sex!.. and sex brownies! And pizza.. we should have everybody over and BBQ. I'm going to lay down for few minutes, watch a movie.. but then sex brownies! Zzzzzzzz. 2 days later when I started coming around. I honestly have never felt that good in my life. 2 days of being completely pain free.. and floating on clouds. Never before.. certainly not since. The problem with being in chronic pain is this. It's chronic.. that means it NEVER stops. Some days arent too bad. You feel crappy... but honestly.. any person over 40 is familiar with feeling pain every single day. I just got a big headstart from everyone else. A lot of days.. far too many days. The pain is crippling. But most people like me have to figure out how to have a life despite that. So, on we soldier. I'm mid 30's... just really getting bad sick. My doctor is an Internist. The kind of general doctor that does innards. Dr. Feelgood was an amazingly good doctor. Everyone in town knew and loved him. Everything's going wrong all the time.. But Dr Feelgood is working overtime to fix it. I'm in serious pain.. everyday.. all day. But he gives me pain meds. Vicodin, Percocet, fiorinol, demerol, pills, patches, shots. We tried everything. I had access to sleeping pills, xanax, valium. Not all at once of course. But in hefty doses. I was dying.. and I just wanted it to be as pain free as possible. Dr. Feelgood was trying his best. There was a point in my life.. because of the years of taking so many narcotics.. I could take absolutely lethal doses without getting even a little buzz. I could get a migraine.. which at the time was common. Go into the office and get a shot of demerol.. and off to work I'd go. It got rid of the pain ok. But no more highs for poor Steve. The party is long over.. and I'm still always in agony. This was a big reason why I quit everything all at once. For the past 5 years Dr Feelgood has been banging his head against my wall. But we had the opportunity to move to another state.. I'd had my 2nd resection.. so this was as good as it was going to get. Off we go. For the next 3 years.. nothing. Some good days.. some bad.. but no drugs at all. But reality does tend to insert itself. The fact of my life is.. I Have to use narcotics most days..and there are millions of people like me. Used properly they are a miracle for us. Buy there are too many people who see how glamorous its is.. being a drug addict looks like one long party for Steve... lets try it! I do make it look glamorous. The problem today in 2017 is the government is seriously clamping down on legitimate prescriptions for legitimate patients. Every time my doctor prescribes narcotics. She gets a letter from uncle Sam. It tells her all the good drugs she's given out vs. How much other doctors have written. You never want to be on the naughty list. Dont stand out! That means they now have to ration out the good stuff. They can't have several patients getting narcotics. So those of us who have a legitimate reason to take them. Can't always get them. Most doctors practices will not even take you as a patient if you are on narcotics! Wont even talk to you about it. So here's my current nightmare. If I lose my current doctor.. I may not be able to get another.. ever. All because of the opioid epidemic It's happened already.. About 12 years ago.. after my 3rd bowel resection.. my GI. said we could try... Morphine. It's good for guts like yours. It helps with pain.. it causes constipation.. which can balance the scales with the diarrhea you always now have. Cuz of the fact that you have almost no intestines left. But there's rules.. you can only get so many per month. There will never be more. Don't ask. No other drugs from any other doctors. Ever. No drug seeking behavior. Ever. Dont feed it after midnight or get it wet. In 12 years I've never broken the rules. Not once. But I had started going to a pain management Doctor. She took over all prescriptions.. but same rules. Thats what they do. And again.. I followed the rules. But she was willing to up the doses over the years. And eventually I was getting some pretty good amounts. Now to be clear. I haven't gotten high from morphine since almost ever. It just helps the pain some.. keeps my guts pretty calm. But one day I get a form letter.. they're closing down the pain management aspect of their practice because of government pressures. Too much hassle. So I go back to my original GI who started me on it, to take it back over. But he just had to retire after serious back surgery. And his partner wont talk to me. RuhRow! What do I do Scooby doo? I was lucky enough to find someone for about a year.. she cut me way down.. but at least there was something. But this isn't really her specialty.. and she's getting the letters from uncle Sam. So.. fuck it.. I quit ! Cold turkey.. I planned it out so I could take off a month from work. Stocked up on ensure.. and T.P. Got ready for withdrawls. They were as horrible as you see on t.v. or movies. Basically it's like having the flu really bad for a couple weeks. After a month I was clean.. but my new nightmare was in full view. I am missing a large portion of my intestines after 3 bowel resections. It's called Short Bowel Syndrome. Everything that goes in.. goes right back out.. fast. No sight seeing along the way. If course the rapid pass through causes severe spasms and pain. I could no longer leave my bedroom. Not ever. I was on the toilet 10 times a day or more. And I barely ate at all. My new GI wasn't to happy about going the morphine route. I remember our appointment a couple months after I'd quit cold turkey. I wrote down my reasons why I wanted her to put me back on. I was bawling as I tried to convey how miserable I was.. I wanted my sad pathetic life back! I don't want to only be able to get out of bed so I could shit myself to death. I begged like dog. She agreed at a much lower dosage.. and of course.. all the same rules apply. Most days.. it's not even close to enough. But at least I can get out occasionally. Work a few hours a week. Play Pokemon Go with the grandkids and my beautiful wife. I get to have some little bit of a life. If anything happens to her.. or she just decides otherwise. My life will literally be over. My entire life is on the line. Every month. I go to pick up my refill prescription from her.. I think.. is this the month she cuts me off? I don't wanna die. I didn't do anything wrong. I don't have the answer to any of this. All I know is that there are thousands, maybe millions of people in this exact same boat. Narcotics are the only thing keeping them alive or letting them have some measure of relief from pain that you couldn't imagine in your worst dreams. Our governments solution right now is to take away all narcotics from everyone.. let God sort 'em out. Crack down on doctors who are trying to keep them alive. Cut funding for rehabilitation services and mental health. The 2 best tools to curb the opiod epidemic. These are just facts I'm sorry to say. I just don't understand how they can be so callous and cruel. I didn't do anything wrong. I don't deserve this.