Friendly Service, Indeed....

[lydamorehouse]

 We got our car back from the shop this morning, and... I'm going to miss the loaner. 

Because when I picked up the Camery, of course, it didn't start. I had to pop the hood and wiggle the wire and turn the key again. I honestly do not know how the mechanics managed to move my car in and out of the garage, but good for them, I guess. It's also so weird to me that none of them (at Turbo Tim's) have the intellectual/mechanical curiosity to want to understand WHY this happens. 

They also never recognize me despite the fact that in any other shop, I'd imagine my car would be the source of much interest for its electrical weirdnesses. I tell them every time how close I live to them, and, every time, I attempt to have a bit of humorous banter with the guy behind the counter. But, I am universally met with a blank stare--if they look at me at all. Usually, they studiously avoid looking up from their various computer screens. I don't think they know who they're talking to half the time.

Even though, I can tell you my mechanic's name is Tony. I could, in fact pick him out of a line-up. The reverse is clearly not true.

Is this a Millenial thing? 

I mean seriously.

The barista at my coffee shop also no longer seem to 1) make eye contact at all and so 2) never learn what I look like or my name and 3) stringently rebuff any attempts I make to ask them about their lives or to engage in what my generation thinks of as "friendly chit-chat." To be clear, I don't think anyone "owes me a smile" or even the time of day, but there is a cool indifference to their attitude that does really change my relationship with places that I frequent. Like, not only do I feel no loyalty, I feel actively UNWELCOME there. Turbo Tim's claims to be LGBTQIA+ friendly. Are you kidding me? What do they think "friendly" means? Treat everyone with the same amount of vague disinterest? I mean, I guess that's a kind of equality, but it doesn't feel anything approaching "friendliness."  No one extends even the vaguest of pleasantries. Instead, it's all very, "And you are?"

I don't know. I went back to them despite having twice been charged for something they could not fix because I assumed that just being asked to do some routine maintainance would be fine. And, I guess they did the work, so I shouldn't really complain, but I did not feel well taken care of or "valued" as so many places claim to want to do with their customers. 

I probably shouldn't be so annoyed. People are just trying to get through. But, I think, in 2025 the issue is that I feel like small kindness are going to MATTER. It's weird when you can't even count on a nice bit of stupid back and forth at the places you do business.

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Okay, and now I just drove it on the highway to pick up Shawn. THE GROWLING I TOOK IT IN FOR IS STILL THERE. Yes, it's a little better? But it is still bad.

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Update to the update: I have an appiontment elsewhere. Sorry kitties at Turbo Tim's. I actually need my car serviced. 

Comments

[minnehaha]

I have had to interact with a lot of people recently and have made a very big point of getting and using their names. They seem to appreciate it. I suppose I want them to take me seriously.

K.

[sabotabby]

I imagine all the anxiety kiddies are grown up and have jobs now so...maybe? Like I am terrible at remembering people but I wonder how it's going to be out there in the workforce for my kids who need a trigger warning for eye contact.

[lcohen]

i wish i could loan you my mechanics. sure they may have terrible politics (or they may not--i have no idea), but they know me and they recognize me to the point where the owner saw me at a costco, so completely out of context, greeted me with a hug, and introduced his daughter to me. otoh, since i am now on the third car that i have been using them for, i may have put his daughter through college :) .

[coffeetime]

Good gravy, could someone just fix the darned car already?

Next time you're passing through Madison, stop and get coffee...there are a couple of shops near me where the staff are super friendly and kind! Mercies has the best staff; Java Cat is good too and in the summer you can sit out in the backyard.

[spiffikins]

My neighbour down the way had a Toyota Highlander for 10 years that had one taillight that would NOT stay lit. An electrical problem - she had taken it into the dealership a dozen times and they had tried to fix it a dozen times - and it never did get solved.

Hilariously, I noticed a couple of years ago, she replaced it, with a brand new Toyota Highlander :D

In the last few years - possibly since COVID? I have noticed the opposite of what you are experiencing - I don't know if it's me that has changed or them, but I am finding that I am doing a lot more "chit chat" with the person behind the counter, and getting chit chat back. Nothing in depth - we're not bosom buddies - but a little bit of connection to say - I see you are also a human being :D

I do think it started during COVID - when we were all a bit desperate to interact with other humans, and we all had a Big Thing that was affecting us - so everyone had THAT in common - that it was impacting us in some way. And maybe it has rubbed off on me that I got into the habit of being more likely to try to make a small connection?

I hope your new mechanic figures out the problem with the car!

[mtbc]

Glad you're taking the car somewhere else.

Curious about the unwelcoming service you're experiencing though, in the US I almost always ran into the opposite if anything, where I'd want them to back off a bit! (I'll never forget the Friendly's where we learned what the server's cervix had gone through.) It's almost always been in the UK where I've encountered staff who begrudgingly tolerate that I'd like them to do their job please.

[profiterole_reads]

How big is the town where this garage is? Usually, people in smaller towns have more time to be friendly and less stress-induced anxiety than people in bigger towns.

[pameladean]

This won't be convenient at all, so I hope the new mechanics you chose are both curious and pleasant. But we use Quality Coaches on 38th Street between Nicollet and Blaisdell, and they are fantastic. They specialize in older cars, and it was a bit of a struggle to first take an old limping car to them because the entire street is periodically lined with vintage cool cars for some event or other of theirs. But they are great and friendly.

Maybe more Gen X than Millenial, overall. But honestly, from where I am, everybody under sixty just looks like a baby. We also had a very pleasant plumber come over Wednesday to fix the laundry sink, but I could not possibly tell you if he was thirty or fifty. Probably the latter. But really? No idea. You have a college kid, so you might be more up on what various ages look like.

P.