I found something that is becoming more rare these days..............good service.
Driving around today, doing what felt like a million errands, I found my filthy, dirty car more filthy and dirty than I could stand. The roads were mostly free of snow melt, so I decided to stop in the 'big city' to get my car washed instead of the small-community car wash I had planned on frequenting later.
It's been my experience, at my 'normal' car wash, that the employees might, and I do mean 'might', care about their work but the finished product, my clean car, doesn't reflect a strong desire for excellence. My litmus test of whether or not my car is clean, to my standards, is how much time do I spend in the parking lot of the grocery store near the car wash, wiping down my car, ridding it of water spots, road dirt, and interior smudges and dust. At this car wash, it takes me ten to fifteen minutes to detail my car to my satisfaction - post car wash.
I remember a USA Network 'Monk" episode where Monk, the obsessive-compulsive private investigator, has amnesia and gets a job at a car wash. He is so successful that a local newspaper writes an article about him, thus alerting his friends to where he is and they come and rescue him. The 'Monk' character's obsessive-compulsive tendency for attention to detail makes him perfect for auto detailing. I would like to clone those tendencies and transplant them into the employees at the car wash I frequent the most.
But, I digress. Back to my story. The young man who worked on my car today was amazing. He had no incentive to pursue excellence, other than his own inner drive to do a good job. As I observed him from inside the building, through windows that he could not see into, I watched him go above and beyond any expectations I might have had. Here is a young man, working in a job that possibly pays minimum wage only, working under the watchful gaze of no supervisor, maintaining his own standard of excellence. When he came to the door to find me, I thanked him for his attention to detail and told him I appreciated it. His beaming smile, on his young face, accompanied a "thank you, mam".
At this car wash, the employees get to keep the tips they are given. They do not have to put the tips in a communal 'pot'. Good thing for him.
Ancora imparo
