Latter Day Luxuries

[mls1202]

No matter where you work in retail, the increasing lack of any kind of customer service is appalling, as is the attitude of many employees. Until quite recently, I worked retail, too.

Sackers at most grocery stores - even the Gulfgate HEB - will generally ask women if they need help with a carryout. In the more upscale neighborhoods, one still has a choice of paper or plastic bags and my sources tell me that the carryout tips run $1 - $2 per bag.

$1-$2 per bag? Wow, I was ripped off when I used to be a grocery store "bagger". I would get about 75 cents or a $1 if I was lucky, and this was back in 1995.

[Vertigo58]

Most Target stores had a small bakery as you checked out at the registers.

The cake decorators would be making their creations right in front of you. This was a luxury for mom's to let the kids (like us) watch as they checked out. One less pain for tired parents. I used to love seeing the bakers squeeze the various colored tubes of frosting into roses, etc on top of big wedding cakes. Holidays were best as the cupcakes had little plastic characters to amuse.

Free kiddie entertainment.

PS, newer stores have brought back the bakery but it was no comparison to the original tiny bakery.

[Vertigo58]

What was really great about these booths was once you closed the door, it was actually quite peaceful so you could have a decent conversation. I was watching a classic old film last night and remembered the quiteness you experinced while being able to turn around during the conversation and see all the outside commotion.

Even today as you get a call on your cell phone you have to scramble to get behind a wall or whatever. For better hearing.

Just couldn't beat a glass booth.

[sarahiki]

We were at the Chik-fil-A in Pearland a couple of weeks ago and it was raining hard... an employee with an umbrella walked us out to our car!! I was totally shocked. That was lovely customer service.

No matter where you work in retail, the increasing lack of any kind of customer service is appalling, as is the attitude of many employees. Until quite recently, I worked retail, too.

Sackers at most grocery stores - even the Gulfgate HEB - will generally ask women if they need help with a carryout. In the more upscale neighborhoods, one still has a choice of paper or plastic bags and my sources tell me that the carryout tips run $1 - $2 per bag.

[jwphillips2]

We were at the Chik-fil-A in Pearland a couple of weeks ago and it was raining hard... an employee with an umbrella walked us out to our car!! I was totally shocked. That was lovely customer service.

I remember doing retail and had this couple I had helped, return to the store and ask for my manager. They proceeded to tell him what a great job I had done and they would be coming back based on this experience(!). They said "If you have the right to complain, you have the obligation to commend". That was over 30 years ago and I've never forgotten that experience.

[Vertigo58]

HEB and Walmart are starting to slack off on common customer service tasks. On at least 3 recent visits, after checking out the cashier expects you to sack the items, grab the sacked groceries and place in your cart. This is really a management issue as one cashier said she had no one to help her ie; a sacker. The customer has to be the sacker.

Next you will have to step behind the counter and ring yourself up. Put your hand in the drawer and make off like a bandit. Love it. >

[musicman]

i don't think i've ever seen anyone use Walmart and customer service in the same sentence.

i will say that HEB in clr lake has hand wipes where you pick up the carts. i do like that.

[gnu]

i don't think i've ever seen anyone use Walmart and customer service in the same sentence.

i will say that HEB in clr lake has hand wipes where you pick up the carts. i do like that.

I think the handwipes are common now...even the Kroger on Bellfort has them...you know to wipe off fingerprints from things.

[musicman]

I think the handwipes are common now...even the Kroger on Bellfort has them...you know to wipe off fingerprints from things.

i was at a party a few weeks ago and a friend from high school mentioned this kroger....she said she used to call it the black kroger and the one on polk the mexican kroger. LOL

[nm5k]

I remember the big galvanized steel tubs - made great wading pools for us kids - but I'm not sure I ever saw my mother use them for anything other than a rinse or adding starch. I have a vague memory of one of those early washaterias where you paid someone else to wash your clothes because you weren't allowed to touch the machines. My clearest memories are of my mother's first washing machine, an upright model with electrically propelled agitator tub but hand operated clothes wringer and a built in scrub board, as I recall. I wonder how many HAIFers don't have any idea what a clothes wringer was? Yeah, clothes drying on the line and us kids running in and out of them playing cowboys and Indians, etc. And the dried clothes being sprinkled with water from a bowl before ironing because there was no such thing as a steam iron or spray bottle.

My mother lived on a farm in Ok in the 30's-40's-50's. Back in the 30's and maybe

early 40's they had a gasoline powered washing machine. I don't think they had electricity

until the 40's, as they were one of the last in that area to be hooked up.

I'm not sure what brand it was.

You can see a few old machines here..

http://www.oldewash.com/articles/lives.htm

A few gas powered washing machines in action..

MK

[editor]

HEB and Walmart are starting to slack off on common customer service tasks. On at least 3 recent visits, after checking out the cashier expects you to sack the items, grab the sacked groceries and place in your cart. This is really a management issue as one cashier said she had no one to help her ie; a sacker. The customer has to be the sacker.

Next you will have to step behind the counter and ring yourself up. Put your hand in the drawer and make off like a bandit. Love it. >

I ran into this problem a couple of days ago. I brought my little basket of groceries to the checkout and put it on the counter. The girl told me I had to empty the items onto the belt. I firmly, but politely, informed her that this is her job. When she refused I informed her that I had nothing to do for the rest of the day but stand at the counter and wait for her to complete her task, or if she liked, she could call the manager and I'd have him explain to her the concept of "customer service."

She unloaded the basket.

When I'm paying $4.99/gallon for milk and the store refuses to stock egg nog, you'd better believe I'm not unloading the basket.

[foxmulder]

I ran into this problem a couple of days ago. I brought my little basket of groceries to the checkout and put it on the counter. The girl told me I had to empty the items onto the belt. I firmly, but politely, informed her that this is her job. When she refused I informed her that I had nothing to do for the rest of the day but stand at the counter and wait for her to complete her task, or if she liked, she could call the manager and I'd have him explain to her the concept of "customer service."

She unloaded the basket.

When I'm paying $4.99/gallon for milk and the store refuses to stock egg nog, you'd better believe I'm not unloading the basket.

I don;t see how it was the cashiers fault? Most people unload there own stuff. You should've talked to the manager first. I had someone argue "Customer is always right!" with me the other day...Neither company i have worked for have had that policy in the manual. I can't say i like people who belittle the low man on the totem pole very much. Also, for the fact i', paying 2.84 for gas you better believe i'm not pumping my own gas

[Vertigo58]

Here's a new one,

Remember when going to a movie and the Usher or Usherette would actually help you find a seat?

[jwphillips2]

My mother lived on a farm in Ok in the 30's-40's-50's. Back in the 30's and maybe

early 40's they had a gasoline powered washing machine. I don't think they had electricity

until the 40's, as they were one of the last in that area to be hooked up.

I'm not sure what brand it was.

You can see a few old machines here..

http://www.oldewash.com/articles/lives.htm

A few gas powered washing machines in action..

MK

Coleman lanterns became famous almost overnight after coming out with an iron that didn't need a fireplace or electricity. It worked just like the lanterns in that you poured in "white gas" from a bottle and then pumped it up for an hour's use. It was cheap and a very small percentage of households had electricity after the turn of the century. BTW we now call this "camping".

[nm5k]

Coleman lanterns became famous almost overnight after coming out with an iron that didn't need a fireplace or electricity. It worked just like the lanterns in that you poured in "white gas" from a bottle and then pumped it up for an hour's use. It was cheap and a very small percentage of households had electricity after the turn of the century. BTW we now call this "camping".

I'm pretty sure they had one of those. They had lots of things that you probably

don't see too much of these days. As an example, they had a cream separator

in the kitchen or wherever. I've never even seen one myself.

But they used it most every day, and she mentioned that it had to be dismantled

and cleaned after every use. Sounds like a pain to me...

And of course, they had to milk all those cows every single day.

I think you became numb to it after a while. There is nothing like a big wet

burred tail swatting you in the face on a wet freezing morning. :/

There are many others stories. She wrote of a lot of them in a family history

and genealogical book she wrote a while back.

They had their own smokehouse, and ate various types of pork throughout the

year. At first you would be eating all the good stuff, hams, etc, but at the end

of the year before the next pork smokehouse refill, you would be getting down

to the dried out stuff.

They didn't eat much beef at all, unless my grandfather swapped for some

every once in a while. Another sort of strange thing.. They grew champion

turkeys, but actually ate few of them themselves. I forgot the reason why.

They ate a lot of chicken though I think.

The reason they were among the last to get power was due to a personal/political

problem with the guy that ran the program.

In his previous job, he worked at the school board, which my grandfather was

also on. For some reason, he either fired the guy, or caused him to lose his

job. I forgot the reason, and would need a refresh from the book.

Anyway, guess what that guys next job was?

You guessed it. He ran the new power program.

It was no real surprise when my grandfather was one of the very last to get

power to that farm. :/ As a matter of fact, I don't think they got power

until that guy left, and someone else took over.

I never met that grandfather as he passed away about 2-3 years before

I was born. But I've got lots of stories about him. He was real good at

grafting pecan trees. Had quite a demand for it back then, and I think

he did pretty well. In the 20's, 30's, they did pretty well vs some others

in that area I think. In that period, they had the money to buy a

wind generator, new car, etc. The wind generator was used to charge

batteries, and I assume the system was DC. Mainly just for lights,

radio, etc. They also had a well which was a good ways from the house,

and they devised a way to pump that water using no power.

I forgot the name of the pumping system..

He raised state champion turkeys.

They said he had no qualms about taking the back seat out of the

family car, and throwing a calf or two in the back to haul it off somewhere. :/

Life was for sure different on a farm in the early 20th century vs

what most city dwellers are used to.

MK

[Vertigo58]

Take a look at Car commercials of the past. They were far better than today IMO. Normally had a pretty/beautiful girl showing off the car. Camera panned across the interior as voice-over decribed great new features.

These days all they do is say the name of the new auto and your lucky if you see it going about 200 miles an hour along the beach. As if you can do that here in Houston? You would get plenty of citations and be a killing machine. Be sure to pay attention to next TV commercial. They seldom show interior, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFXEps2KMJg

[lockmat]

During WWII we were living a tiny rent house in Houston's East End and had no washing machine (no one had a dryer back then). My mother did the laundry in the back yard with 3 tubs and a washboard. A few times a year, she would light a wood fire under the wash pot and boil all the linens to get them extra white. Our laundry was dried on the clothesline. Getting it dry before it rained or was pooped on by birds was always a concern. At the end of the war. a washateria opened nearby and she took the laundry there to wash it, but it was her preference to dry it on the clothesline at home, weather permitting.

Nowadays, proponents of the green movement are urging us to go back to hanging laundry outside to dry. I must admit, no fabric softener can ever give linens the wonderful fresh smell they get from being dried in the sunshine.

My mom used to hang dry our clothes sometimes. I thought the clothes came out smelling funny.

[Mark F. Barnes]

Those of you fro the Bryan College Station area will remember Leon Sevcik's Texaco. It was and is one of the last full service station you'll find that still checks your tires, and oil, the whole deal just like the good ole days.

R.I.P. Leon my dear friend, I'll burn no daylight until we meet again (because I know you will be watching me!).

Leon has passed but his son Patrick still provides the same service that his dad did for almost 40 years. It's a Shell station now, but still full service and an honest place you can still take your vehicle to. There are a dozen employees there that have worked there for 20 years or more. It's really a throw back in time.

[Vertigo58]

Free Karate class lessons at some or all YMCA's.

There was a YMCA on Broadway (I think) on East End of DT. We attended classes for that summer. Far as I know they were free, unheard of these days right? Most of the kids were about 10-12 yrs of age, this was around 1972-73. The current Karate film craze helped fuel the interest in becoming your own Bruce Lee.

A true later day luxury-self defense!

[dsickles]

there is still a good full service station at Westhimer and Weslyan. they check your tires, oil, wash your windscreen, etc. Its a Mobil

[Vertigo58]

The "cry room" at all indoor theaters.

Mothers could take the baby inside, sit, cradle and still be able to see the movie and not bother other patrons.

Seniors got much better food discounts at most restuarants. Now they hardly get any real discount at all. Sad.

[jwphillips2]

The "cry room" at all indoor theaters.

Mothers could take the baby inside, sit, cradle and still be able to see the movie and not bother other patrons.

Seniors got much better food discounts at most restuarants. Now they hardly get any real discount at all. Sad.

I completely forgot about the crying rooms @ the movies! Maybe they could have a "constant talker" room for today's patrons. Heck with that, lets just bring back Drive-Ins!

[Vertigo58]

The airlines would give you those small miniature liquor bottle's as souvenir's to take home and display on shelf or whatever.

Now you would have to pay $$$ or bribe/beg a flight attendant to give you (if at all). Gee willaker's!