The Soapbox Archives:
After I got home and needed to go to the ATM, I remembered something that was bothering me about my ATM. Having gone to the bank during the day, I ran into a bank representive and took the opportunity to explain my idea.
Good day,
My name is [fill in your name] and I've been a customer since the [the previous incarnations of this bank] days, probably since 1984.I'm perfectly happy with the bank, but I had a suggestion that might make the typical customer's experience just a tiny bit better.
I've gone to the ATM many times where I had a cup of coffee with me. What happens? I usually need both my hands and there's no place to put my coffee. The ATM machines are all made so that the lower part of the ATM slopes *down* so my coffee would slide off and fall on the floor. I really don't want to put my coffee on the ground. At the [local] branch (today), the nearest counter is at least 8 feet away. Suppose I wanted to put my wallet or my keys down; I'm not going to put them down 8 feet away. This won't make me change my bank, but it could make me feel better about my bank if I had a safe/secure place to put my belongings. For someone with bigger items, like a purse, the customer would feel better if their belongings were right in front where they could see it.
I'm not going to ask you to change all the ATMs right now, but perhaps when you need to replace the machines during the next upgrade CYCLE or even when just one machine goes down and you don't have any spares left, perhaps you could ask the manufacturer to make a level spot where the customer could put something down. It won't change anyone's mind about where to bank, but it might make them feel better about using *your* bank.
Regards, [your name]
Perhaps you might want to send this note to *your* bank?
Having said that, I won't be going this year. I believe I had gone to the event for 25 straight years (yeah, I'm that old) and I helped out a lot every year because I think the world of Tony and Aurelie, but I need a break from it. I may get back to it but not this year.
It was because of Beantown Camp that my wife and I figured out where we wanted to get married; I still remember the moment when we were in the line for the barbecue night when we looked at each other and realized that we were standing where we were going to be having our First Dance. Beantown Camp was a source of a lot of wonderful memories.
Damn, I have to figure out if I can get this year's t-shirt.
I did do something that I haven't done in a few years: I went out to check out live music. On Saturday, June 17, I went down to Chan's Egg Roll and Blues in Woonsocket, Rhode Island; they're huge for live music. I had a good incentive to go: The Love Dogs were playing there!
The room itself is about 20' by 60'. I'm guessing that there were about 60 people there. Pretty much the entire room was filled up by tables and the stage. There was a space off to the side for dancing, probably room for 3 or 4 couples, but most of the people there were there for live music, so more dancing space for us.
It was a Chinese restaurant we hadn't checked out so we were looking forward to it. Being Chinese, it's all about the food. The portions were huge and I took home half of my plate (and I almost never do that) and I thought it tasted great. I've never eaten at a Chinese restaurant that had chicken wings that big and I've eaten at plenty. Want to know how a Chinese mother gives her love? She feeds you and Chan's did that.
Oh yeah, the music was great. My chair was so close to the stage, I could have touched that alleged lemon on Allison's keyboard (I think she moved it because of me). We got to dance. Most of the people there weren't dancers so we didn't have to share. And the noise wasn't too loud for us. It was a good night out. Need something to do for date night? Here you go.
The whole dance business has gone through a great upheaval during the pandemic and people are trying to figure out whether to maintain their business or just get out.
With Facebook and other media, I see some venues getting rid of their websites. I can see where some just abandoned their websites (and their customers) because the old website addresses are getting redirected to other non-related businesses.
I have a suggestion: if you're getting rid of your website, leave it up for a year and put up a notice saying why the website is going away. If you're moving to Facebook or some other media, put in the URL for the new location where people can find you. If you're getting out of the business, it'd be nice if you could let people know that so they can go look elsewhere.
Oh yeah, let me know about it so I can update your listing. Sometimes I will get a bad connection to a website but it doesn't mean your website and your business went away. I'll mention it in your listing that I couldn't reach the website that day. However, if I get the same situation months later, I *will* assume the website is gone permanently and I will delete your listing. If you've moved to Facebook or other media, let me know before I completely delete your listing.