Melt-down economy -- BALDERDASH!

[Hawkmoon]

It's all a lie. The economy is NOT in trouble. I've seen the evidence with my own eyes. If the ecomomy were bad, businesses would be trying to woo customers, no? Business 101.

But, businesses are NOT trying to woo customers. Case in point: On Friday evening I felt like I wanted a pizza. My wife's away, I didn't feel like cooking, and besides ... I craved a pepperoni pizza. So I drove the couple of miles to the local pizza restaurant and walked in. The place was maybe half filled. Two waitresses were on duty. I stood by the entrance podium and waited for a waitress (or anyone) to either seat me, or tell me to sit wherever I wanted.

I waited. And I waited, And then I waited some more. After about 10 minutes an older couple came in behind me. The guy just walked around me and sat down in the booth I would have chosen, if I had been told I could do so. His wife was a bit more polite, and asked me if I was waiting to pick up a pizza. I told her I was waiting for someone to seat me. She told me it was okay to sit anywhere, then she went and joined her husband. BOTH waitresses, at that point, were at the counter and heard the conversation. Neither one said a word, or confirmed what the woman had said.

So I went over to the only other booth that was open and sat down. And waited. And waited some more. And watched as one of the waitresses took care of the couple who had come in after me. And then I waited some more. Both waitresses wandered around the dining room, taking care of other customers. Both looked over at me from time to time, but neither brought me a menu, or offered to take my order. After sitting there for another 10 minutes, I got up and walked out. I was hungry and I had already wasted enough time to cook a piza, so I wasn't about to try to track down another pizza joint. I went down the road to McDonalds and had a Big Mac and fries.

So I am convinced that the economy is actually in great shape, because small businesses are doing their best to discourage customers from patronizing their establishments. It must feel wonderful to be that successful. Maybe it'll work for me, too, if I adopt their business plan. Ignore your customers, and the money will come rolling in. Sounds so simple, I can't believe I never thought of it before.

[Gewehr98]

Did you smell bad? 

[crt360]

Were you wearing the cloak of invisibility? 

I've encountered a lot of the same poor service lately.  This would be a great time for some fast food joints (and other businesses) to replace the lazy-assed workers and managers with people who could really use the pay and have the motivation and skill to do a respectable, if not outstanding, job.

[vaskidmark]

I've often asked the person at the cash register to give a tip to the waitron(s) who have ignored me - and then handed over an insultingly small amount of loose change. 
On only one occassion did the person at the cash register fail to ask why I was leaving an insulting tip, and to then seem to be astonished at the reason provided.

Likewise, on only one occassion did a waitron follow me out to scream at me for being so insulting.  I wish I could tell you that she suffered some sort of negative learning experience, but the truth is I completely ignored her as I got into my car and drove off.

Yes, it is harsh, mean, and quite insulting.  But then, so was the lack of attention I experienced at the hands of someone dependant on tips to supplement the $2.14/hour average wage paid to waitrons in my neck of the world.  But as Hawkmoon observed, if waitrons can survive on $2.14/hr the economy must not be i as deep trouble as we are being led to believe.  Either that or they are selling drugs to make up the slack.

stay safe.

skidmark

[grampster]

If you hadn't been wearing the Gumby costume, perhaps they'd have waited on you.

[digitalandanalog]

Lazy, worthless wait staff are never part of a viable economy.

Why do you think a "lawful" salary base of $2.13 an hour is in effect?

My first job was being a dish washer for IHOP. I won't say that most of the wait staff was awful, but there was a certain percentage of them who expected big bucks (tipping) for almost no insurance of customer satisfaction and no contributions were to made to the poorly paid staff that made their lives a lot easier.

Those of you who were underpaid busboys and dishwashers know exactly what I am talking about.

[Hawkmoon]

If you hadn't been wearing the Gumby costume, perhaps they'd have waited on you.

You were there? Why didn't you speak up, we could have gone out for a beer ...

[Perd Hapley]

No, I submit that the economy really IS in bad shape.  Charter is bankrupt, man, CHARTER!  Why, don't you know the failure of cable companies caused the crash of '29?

[Regolith]

No, I submit that the economy really IS in bad shape.  Charter is bankrupt, man, CHARTER!  Why, don't you know the failure of cable companies caused the crash of '29?

Charter?  Not surprising. Inept is the nicest thing I'd say about them...

[HankB]

Bad economy? People aren't buying things?

I tried to buy a (heavily advertised) flat panel TV at Frys . . . nope, sold out. Tried Sears . . . nope sold out. Tried two other models . . . they were sold out, too. (This happened to another guy at the Sears I visited, too.)

If they're sold out of everything people actually want to buy, business must have been pretty good.

As for bad restaurant service . . . it doesn't happen often, but when it does, I generally will leave two pennies as a tip.

My aunt and her two daughters were at a restaurant one day . . . the daughters took the "salad bar" (one trip) with their meal, the aunt didn't.

When the daughters came back, Auntie tried one tomato from her daughter's salad . . . the waitress charged her for a "trip to the salad bar", and got snippy about it.

Auntie & daughters didn't make a scene, but as they were leaving, they told the waitress "By the way, thank you for the extra salad you charged us for - as it turns out, the amount was EXACTLY what we would have left as a tip, so we applied your tip to the bill - we figure YOU paid for that salad."

Waitress' face turned about six shades of purple. 

[RoadKingLarry]

No, I submit that the economy really IS in bad shape.  Charter is bankrupt, man, CHARTER!  Why, don't you know the failure of cable companies caused the crash of '29?

Oh, you mena the cable TV provider... For a second I thought you meant this Charter-http://www.charterfirearms.com/.
If a gun company went bankrupt in this environment then we would be in trouble.

[K Frame]

Two inattentative employees at one small business certainly sets the tone for the entire economy....

[Nick1911]

Two inattentative employees at one small business certainly sets the tone for the entire economy....

I don't know Mike; people seem to have an awful lot of disposable income for this to be the "Great Depression II" that everyone makes it out to be.

[RocketMan]

tried to buy a (heavily advertised) flat panel TV at Frys . . . nope, sold out. Tried Sears . . . nope sold out. Tried two other models . . . they were sold out, too. (This happened to another guy at the Sears I visited, too.)

If they're sold out of everything people actually want to buy, business must have been pretty good.

It's sold out because retailers have cut way back on their inventories.  They don't have as many to sell in the first place.  They've cut back because sales have fallen dramatically.
My employer is the distribution arm of a major discount retailer.  There is much less product moving through our distribution centers now than there was a year ago.  That product includes large flat screen TVs.

That said, finding the right balance between inventory and demand is a challenge under the best of circumstances.  In the current market, it is especially difficult.  Finding a workable equilibrium between supply and actual demand is tough right now.  No one really knows what the consumer is going to do from month to month.

[K Frame]

I don't know Mike; people seem to have an awful lot of disposable income for this to be the "Great Depression II" that everyone makes it out to be.

Lots of people had lots of disposable income during the Great Depression, as well.

My Grandparents, for example. Both Grandfathers had very good jobs all through the Depression.

That's not my point, though.

My point is that you can't take a single personal experience, based on a single incident in a single area of the country that occurred in a single small segment of the economy (in this case small restaurant) and extrapolate that across all business sectors nation wide.

Oh, and by saying "everyone," you include both me and yourself in that collective. And since I certainly don't believe that this is the next great depression, and you apparently don't either, you can't say everyone. That's just as much of a fail as trying to claim a small pizza parlor with bad waitresses represents the economic health of the entire nation.

[Monkeyleg]

Well, the economy is at least good enough that people have been buying guns and ammunition. The problem for many gun stores is that they don't have any guns left to sell, and the wait for backorders is so long that customers are going online and buying from whoever has the gun they want. IOW, guns stores are hurting because gun sales are really good.

I'm lucky to be in this niche right now. If I were in something like plumbing (my BIL's business), I'd be hurting. With new home construction having slowed so much, he's having to rely solely on service calls. Even at that, he's had to lay off two of his seven guys, and there's going to be more cuts.

[jackdanson]

I don't know Mike; people seem to have an awful lot of disposable income for this to be the "Great Depression II" that everyone makes it out to be.

You don't know what it's like to settle on a 40 inch hdtv, when what you really need is a 60 in. hdtv.

I think this is the ECONOMY-GOING-BACK-TO-NORMAL.  I think we had a "good" 10-15 years and now that things are flattening out people are freaking.  But oh noes, how will I afford my ski boat?

[makattak]

Well, on the plus side, agricultural stocks are still doing very well.

I say this because of my parents poor decision to leave all their retirement in Cargill (private company) stock since my dad retired.

They lost about 40% of its value last year, but it is really surging this year.

Hopefully, they won't get nailed again. (It's a massive struggle to try to convince my father of anything. I've long since stopped trying.)

[MikeB]

It's sold out because retailers have cut way back on their inventories.  They don't have as many to sell in the first place.  They've cut back because sales have fallen dramatically.

Of course in the example given, there was no sale because there wasn't any inventory.

That said, finding the right balance between inventory and demand is a challenge under the best of circumstances.  In the current market, it is especially difficult.  Finding a workable equilibrium between supply and actual demand is tough right now.

I'm convinced part of this problem is the advent of Just on Time/Lean/Toyota Model/DBS type management of all roles of business. It's one thing to use these models in a factory, or even some distribution channels. It's quite another the way MBA's are trying to push this model to all types of business, and business processes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it used to be that a retailor got a product for the best price they could and then when they had excess inventory, put it on sale to get rid of it. Now they limit inventory and run sales just to bring in customers, of course then half the time they don't have the products they put on sale.

[just Warren]

My point is that you can't take a single personal experience, based on a single incident in a single area of the country that occurred in a single small segment of the.....

If people took this advice then 90%+ of all internet postings would cease. 

[zahc]

It's sold out because retailers have cut way back on their inventories.  They don't have as many to sell in the first place.  They've cut back because sales have fallen dramatically.
My employer is the distribution arm of a major discount retailer.  There is much less product moving through our distribution centers now than there was a year ago.

My dad is tuned into the pulse of the trucking industry. There is no doubt that van freight, at least in the midwest, is down drastically from last year.

[HankB]

Of course in the example given, there was no sale because there wasn't any inventory.

Actually, at least two sales were lost at Sears that day. What a GREAT strategy!!! 

I'm convinced part of this problem is the advent of Just on Time/Lean/Toyota Model/DBS type management of all roles of business. It's one thing to use these models in a factory, or even some distribution channels. It's quite another the way MBA's are trying to push this model to all types of business, and business processes.

My company experienced sort of the same thing, except that rather than "Just In Time" our new CEO decided "Six Sigma" was the new corporate religion, and it WOULD be followed in ALL areas of the company, including R&D.

It didn't work out so well . . . and when he ran out of people to cut and couldn't come up with any new ideas, he jumped ship and moved on. 

[Hawkmoon]

My company experienced sort of the same thing, except that rather than "Just In Time" our new CEO decided "Six Sigma" was the new corporate religion, and it WOULD be followed in ALL areas of the company, including R&D.

Okay, I know about "just in time," but what the heck is Six Sigma?

As for extrapolating from one incident -- I'm not. I just chose that incident because it was the most recent example, and slightly more blatant than some of the others.

[FTA84]

Okay, I know about "just in time," but what the heck is Six Sigma?

Usually used to refer to optimization of some part of business.  The 'six sigma' refers to statistics where one talks about accuracy in terms of standard deviations.  Six sigma is the sixth standard deviation.

For example, you can study the distribution of bins in a pharmacy.  If 95% of the people come in for heart medication X or antibiotic Y, you don't want to locate those bins a 5 minute walk from each other and the counter.

[RevDisk]

Usually used to refer to optimization of some part of business.  The 'six sigma' refers to statistics where one talks about accuracy in terms of standard deviations.  Six sigma is the sixth standard deviation.

Apparently, they issue belts in it too.  A certain person at work was hired solely on his resume and the fact that he is a "Six Sigma black belt", which had all of us rolling our eyes. 

I admit, I don't fully grasp the whole organizational management thing and I'm trying to learn it.  A guy who's the highest non suit type at a very large food processing plant explained to me that it's mostly an all or nothing, at least for the Toyota stuff.  If you're not into vertical integration, I'm told not to do the Toyota stuff as it relies on perfect timing.  Apparently a lot of folks think you can implement parts of a management system and ignore the fundimental aspects.  The only way any of these partially compliant management fads make sense is if they're merely to make someone happy.  Execs, shareholders, whoever.  Or to try to create an artificial metric to grade departments' performance.

Place I work has our own internal system.  It's not that bad.  It appears to be an attempt to systematize common sense, which is a noble attempt indeed.  I understand the logic.  Talented people cost money and good luck finding them.  Hiring more folks with less talent and try to homogenize the results by using strict metrics does have an appeal, but I wonder how efficient it is in the long run.