.jpg){kind=small}
"What fun it'll be. Cruising to Nantucket and back on your boat! I'm not going anywhere 'til Miss V, grandchild #2, arrives in late May, maybe. Babies come when they come and her mom was 2 weeks late." I declared to Admiral, who was setting a mid June departure date.
It was early February. Summer was coming, going and then it's wedding day. Just thinking about all the to-dos made me weak. Not enjoying planning, time had come to cast aside any ideas that things would magically happen on their own. Spontaneity wouldn't make this stuff happen. I had to pull up my big girl panties and plan. Simply plan to move, redo my house, find a tenant to rent it, go on four more honeymoons, take care of clients, and handle endless wedding details.
With pen, calendar and paper, I camped out at a Starbuck's not visited before. I knew too many people to be at my regular one.
My caffeine level rose as lists got longer. Smoke came from my pen as details to accomplish filled the 'Get 'Er Done' pages covering the next seven months. "Lordy, this is huge like an elephant. How'm I going to do all this?! I'm overwhelmed. And it will get done without killing me." I declared to no one as I stuffed dozens of papers into my notebook. That notebook, vinyl covered with pretty flowers and stripes in all my fave colors, was the sacred notebook, travelling with me everywhere. Each list was like Santa's - checked twice daily. So much for spontaneity.
My new life with Admiral was the time to let go of stuff that had served me well. Carefully I selected the pieces to move. The rest would stay to provide a lovely home for the next resident at 509H.
Admiral's quite the delegator, as you've guessed. At his instruction I was to make his big, beautiful RVA house our home. Little did I know unloading his Florida house was good practice for unloading this one, as it was chock full of furniture and all stuff that fills up houses.
"Admiral, you said some furniture needs to go." I began, going on to tell my plan to clear out the excess and make room for my five additions and a new look.
"Sounds great. Just leave my garage alone." he said.
With a big roll of blue painter's tape, I went room to room, marking clearly with a tape piece what I thought should go.
An hour later, Admiral and I toured each room. I pointed out each blue taped item. "Hm, that's always been here. Don't know where that came from. I've always liked that. Yea, I'm glad that's going." were some of his remarks, delighting me that he agreed with 99% of my choices.
Then he got quiet. Seriously he said "I don't have any blue tape on me, do I?"
Is this how you do business?
Wedding plans weighed heavily on me. Honeymoon #1 ended adn real life began again when the plane touched down in RVA on the January afternoon cloaked in winter dull. Admiral and I had passed the first of what would be many trials at life together with flying colors.
Flowers were the next item to line up on the wedding to-do check list. There were names of three florists who did over-the-top statement floral work. I looked forward to seeing their shops, the lovely flowers, planning the bouquets and getting to know them. And so it was that on the coldest Monday morning in early February I popped into the premier florist shop.
Christmas decor was coming down, replaced by Valentine's red and pink. In the tiny store boxes and dust were everywhere, giving no room for the exquisite display I was expecting. While a designer put flowers in a vase, a man worked on a card table amongst piles of things that almost buried him.
I asked "Do you do wedding flowers?"
He looked up, put some papers in a stack, looked over his glasses at me and said "Yes, we do. We do the important big name weddings in town."
"I'm at the right place. Bouquets and all wedding flowers are on my mind. You were recommended by several people. I know vaguely what I want and there's plenty of room for your creativity and style to explode. The wedding is September 10. Are there some pictures of work you've done that I can see?" I asked.
Looking annoyed and moving papers on his table, he hollered "Hey, Jim, where's that photo album with the bouquets in it? It's around here somewhere."
Jim said "Maybe it's in the cabinet. I haven't seen it in ages. I have to finish putting these ornaments away now."
"I don't have time to look for it now. Honey, your wedding is so far away. Come back in April or May to talk about this." the man said, his voice dripping with annoyance, his look saying "I am so done with you."
"My calendar's in the car. I'll go get it and we can set an appointment. I'm travelling a lot and want to be sure we talk." I replied.
"Oh, honey, call in May to set it up." he said emphatically. Irritation oozed from his voice and face.
"That's how you do business?" I asked.
"Honey, call back in May." he said as he returned to his cluttered table.
I left the disheveled and dirty store thinking "Now that's customer service. That's a phone call I won't make. "
A week later, I went to florist #2 on my list. The shop was spacious, orderly and oddly quiet. "Hello. Anyone home?" I hollered, admiring the delightful arrangements.
From the back a voice said "I'm coming. I'm putting the last flower in this vase." An attractive man appeared. "Hi there. Thanks for waiting. How can I help you?"he said.
"I have a 1 o'clock appointment with Randy to talk about wedding flowers." I answered.
"Randy isn't here. He's making deliveries and can't be reached." he said.
Surprised I said "I talked to him weeks ago and he set this time and he's not here?!" I thought "It's been a long time since I was stood up. Everyone has cell phones and he's not reachable. That's one heck of a delivery he's on!"
The phone rang a week later. The man said "Hi. It's Randy. I called to reschedule our appointment to talk about your flowers. "
"Randy, honestly I was really surprised you weren't there. We'd set the appointment at your convenience! It's taken seven days to call me" I said.
"I can explain." he said, sharing details causing his absence.
I replied "I don't trust you to handle my wedding flowers. I don't know they'd get to the church on time. No one called to cancel the date. You've shone me your customer service and it's not for me. Thank you for your call today."
I wondered "If top two florists do business like this, what's the third one like?"
Flowers were the next item to line up on the wedding to-do check list. There were names of three florists who did over-the-top statement floral work. I looked forward to seeing their shops, the lovely flowers, planning the bouquets and getting to know them. And so it was that on the coldest Monday morning in early February I popped into the premier florist shop.
Christmas decor was coming down, replaced by Valentine's red and pink. In the tiny store boxes and dust were everywhere, giving no room for the exquisite display I was expecting. While a designer put flowers in a vase, a man worked on a card table amongst piles of things that almost buried him.
I asked "Do you do wedding flowers?"
He looked up, put some papers in a stack, looked over his glasses at me and said "Yes, we do. We do the important big name weddings in town."
"I'm at the right place. Bouquets and all wedding flowers are on my mind. You were recommended by several people. I know vaguely what I want and there's plenty of room for your creativity and style to explode. The wedding is September 10. Are there some pictures of work you've done that I can see?" I asked.
Looking annoyed and moving papers on his table, he hollered "Hey, Jim, where's that photo album with the bouquets in it? It's around here somewhere."
Jim said "Maybe it's in the cabinet. I haven't seen it in ages. I have to finish putting these ornaments away now."
"I don't have time to look for it now. Honey, your wedding is so far away. Come back in April or May to talk about this." the man said, his voice dripping with annoyance, his look saying "I am so done with you."
"My calendar's in the car. I'll go get it and we can set an appointment. I'm travelling a lot and want to be sure we talk." I replied.
"Oh, honey, call in May to set it up." he said emphatically. Irritation oozed from his voice and face.
"That's how you do business?" I asked.
"Honey, call back in May." he said as he returned to his cluttered table.
I left the disheveled and dirty store thinking "Now that's customer service. That's a phone call I won't make. "
A week later, I went to florist #2 on my list. The shop was spacious, orderly and oddly quiet. "Hello. Anyone home?" I hollered, admiring the delightful arrangements.
From the back a voice said "I'm coming. I'm putting the last flower in this vase." An attractive man appeared. "Hi there. Thanks for waiting. How can I help you?"he said.
"I have a 1 o'clock appointment with Randy to talk about wedding flowers." I answered.
"Randy isn't here. He's making deliveries and can't be reached." he said.
Surprised I said "I talked to him weeks ago and he set this time and he's not here?!" I thought "It's been a long time since I was stood up. Everyone has cell phones and he's not reachable. That's one heck of a delivery he's on!"
The phone rang a week later. The man said "Hi. It's Randy. I called to reschedule our appointment to talk about your flowers. "
"Randy, honestly I was really surprised you weren't there. We'd set the appointment at your convenience! It's taken seven days to call me" I said.
"I can explain." he said, sharing details causing his absence.
I replied "I don't trust you to handle my wedding flowers. I don't know they'd get to the church on time. No one called to cancel the date. You've shone me your customer service and it's not for me. Thank you for your call today."
I wondered "If top two florists do business like this, what's the third one like?"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
