'Optician Puzzle'

 

Whenever in the neighbouring town,  I used to pass by a small optical shop and peep inside. The guy  there,  was a familiar face from childhood. I went to the same school class with his elder brother, so I hoped perhaps to see the brother there one day, or enter to ask about his whereabouts.  Neither of it has happened.

During the last two years I noticed the complete absence in the shop,  of his wife , the optician. I became curious. Something seemed wrong. One day, several weeks ago,  when there was no customer inside , I plucked up the courage and entered. I introduced myself, we talked about this and that, I asked about the brother, and then about his wife.

 Oh, he said, she's at home with the grandkids;  no need for her to be here.  I do it all. You?!   How come?! Are you an optician too? No. Have you taken any courses in optics, optometrics, something professional? No.   So?!!  Well, I've learnt it all from her, from customers , from life.  I was in  shock.  He actually admitted to be some kind of a pretender.

I suppose he does a lot of work, but not all of it, as she might lose her licence of optician/optometrist. My theory is that whenever a big problem arises, or there's a potential, serious customer, the husband gives her a call and she comes immediately as they live quite near the  business.

Anyway, I've changed my route since then, so that I won't be tempted to face him and his story again.  In a way, I feel some strange 'appreciation'  for his ability  and 'talent' to do the job of an optician without being one.  I feel much less appreciative of his wife for cooperating with this deceptive practice.

Turkish

                                                mineral water

I wrote  in the past about 'turkish delight' - food/beverage items produced and imported from our neigbour country Turkey.

This year I've become acquainted with a certain type of their mineral and soda water -  small bottles of mineral water (500 ml), and tiny glass bottles of soda water (200 ml).  It's good stuff and decently priced, but it's  sold only in a few places because of the objection of the local monopols.

                                mineral water, soda water

Lately, there was shortage of these bottles at my supermarket (they come in packages of 8 water bottles per package , 6 soda tiny bottles per package); so I complained to the guy in charge. He said some nonsense like: 'the bottles are on the way,  swimming  from Turkey to Israel..' He thought he was being funny. He wasn't. 

After several days, though, the bottles were in the store . Great performance!

He listens to the customer and takes immediate action (probably by contacting the warehouse, the other branches, or the import firm). I like that. It's not for the first time that I notice his efficiency.

 I've  heard from another employee in the store, that he makes it very hard for suppliers to raise prices. I like that too. He may seem strange sometimes, but does good work , and understands the importance of each and every customer.

At my age, I have a more or less fixed menu. If an item is missing at the store , it disrupts my nutrition routine, and might affect health.   Luckily, there's no shortage of local basic products (milk, eggs, cottage cheese, veggies, ...), but rather of some imported stuff (from east-central Europe, mainly). Anyway, I'm pleased the place has a reliable person to turn to in case some item is not available. 

The Saxophonist

Several years ago, I wrote a post about a  cafe in my hometown - a small place specializing in coffee brands and selling  a variety of pastries and snacks (rather expensive).

Sometimes, the cafe  would also offer its customers a mini musical show, performed by one or two music players.

Since Covid , things don't look too bright about this place. Anyway, they've come up with an attraction: a metal little statue of a jazz saxophonist. It is placed outside the coffee shop ,near the pavement. The sight of it is enjoyed by its customers, as well as by customers of the adjacent McDonalds eatery  and  passersby.

                                                              jazz saxophonist

I enjoy contemplating it too . Whenever I'm in the area I stop to have a look at it. It reminds me of some great music and musicians. Of course, it also reminds me of Bill Clinton, the USA president ( a saxophone player in his college days), who has contributed to the popularity of the sax.

(Examining closely the several photos I took of the figurine, made me angry.  It is not well-maintained; it seems to be covered with a thin layer of dust. It should be cleaned often as it is outside, close to traffic and subject to climate elements).

Customer Service

 I got myself a new desktop PC, with Windows 11 operating system. I had some trouble at logging in, and then at trying to approach my blog, as I constantly got messages of  'wrong password', 'wrong account', or 'wrong code'.

Since Microsoft has let me down with its support, I had to figure things out myself, and....thank God, it worked. Hopefully, no more issues ahead.

Microsoft offers at least five ways of  contacting them: phone, email, fax, chat, internet. None of them was helpful to me.

It seems customer service is getting worse everywhwere. They have all adopted the 'mantra' :"We're here for you". You'd better not believe it. They're there for you before selling you the device, afterwards you're mostly on your own.

My mobile phone company used to have representatives in physical stores. Whenever I had a problem I went to the nearest place and got it solved on the spot. Not any more. Everything is done by phone (putting you on hold), email, fax. Moreover, when one finally gets to a real person, one often becomes unpleasantly surprised by the lack of professionalism and patience that the person exhibits.