New is an interesting word. Something is plastic injection molding new, until it is generally circulated and becomes ubiquitous. After a while, the new becomes commonplace. As time passes, the new becomes the old and then slowly slides into that antique category
Antique to me, is just old with a high price tag attached.
We, as a planet, are always striving to come up with new ways to make money, make friends, make life better, and I'll let you fill in the _____ of what you think we are trying to create to make something new.
There's another side to new and it generally refers to throwing-out the old.
Society seems eager to discard what has fallen into the old column and quickly embrace the new. Why is that?
Can't be happy with a 2008 automobile, I'm waiting for the plastic products China new 2010 model, because it will come in a new color.
Wear the new one; the old one makes you look, well, old.
I use to like that song by that group, but now injection molding parts they have a new one that I even like better.
Now, in all fairness to new, the whole concept of new is crucial to perpetuating the economies of the world and we're conditioned to seek out the new, embrace it, and discard it when we are told that it's now old.
Let's shift to new and old American lexicon.
If we could roll back the clock to the middle of the 20th century, we would, in many cases, how we have slipped away from of society's values of the time.
Understandably, societies evolve and take on the dynamics of the time, but some of the discarded items, really, are missed.
One little thing, that I miss, from the 20th century and its predecessors, is the phrase, "Thank You."
Have you noticed how the last couple of generations are responding to "Thank You" these days.
If you're a business owner, saying, "Thank You" after a transaction is sweet music to the ears of the customer. "Thanks" and "Thanks a lot" are close, but they just don't have the impact of a sincere, non-hurried, "THANK YOU."
Where the landscape of the American lexicon has really faltered, is with the response, "No Problem."
A customer spends a considerable amount of money in your shop, restaurant, or business and they "thank you," only to hear, "No Problem."
"Thank YOU" for fixing my car and letting me spend a little more than one-thousand dollars here at your service center. "No Problem."
Big problem, because in that 20th century of the past, someone would have responded with "you're welcome."
I remember an early lesson from my retail management days; "A customer is not a human being, a customer is an angel from heaven and you bend over backward to kiss their behind if necessary, because they're the customer."
Break your employees of the habit of saying, "No Problem" as soon as possible and if it doesn't matter if they are blue-collar, white-collar, or naked. |