Doing your job the way you are supposed to.

 

Do your job right, and there won't be problems.

Shortcuts.  They make things faster, less painful, and often mean you either get paid more or you work less.  But there is a tradeoff.

I recently ordered a computer from Lenovo.  My laptop is still good but its days are numbered and I needed something with a few specific features.  Black Friday presented an opportunity for me to pick up a decent one at a discount.  I ordered it online, filled out the necessary forms, and paid the fee.  Delivery was free.

The laptop was delivered a few days ago, or so the email told me.  It wasn't at my door, wasn't in the mail, and certainly wasn't picked up by a family member.  Something was wrong.

UPS's policy is to get a signature if the contents being delivered are over $200.  I clicked on the tracking information and found the "proof" that it had arrived.  There was my laptop, lying outside a front door, a door that was not mine.  It had been delivered to the wrong address, an no one bothered to get a signature.  That would have cleared up the matter immediately.

Now, I am partly to blame in this.  I let the computer fill out the forms automatically and did not look closely at the address, which was 455 instead of 481.  I assumed that it was correct as I have done this in the past with no problem.  I guess I took a shortcut myself and paid the price.

The courier also took a shortcut in that the package wasn't signed for.  That's why no one knew it was delivered to the wrong place.  In response, I filled out a missing product form and was rewarded a few days later with the missing product.  Interestingly enough, the fellow who dropped it off told me it was addressed to the wrong house.  I noticed that he didn't mention that he didn't bother to get a signature.

At the end of the day, there was no loss, no real problem, and just a mild inconvenience.  If we both did our job without taking a shortcut, there wouldn't have been a problem in the first place.  Maybe our society has become a bit lax in doing things properly the first time.  Shortcuts are not the solution.  They end up being the enemy of efficiency and successful transactions.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I found a black widow spider in a plant pot today

Image
The spider I found is a western black widow spider, one of three species of black widow that occur in North America.  The fact that this one has another red patch on the back of its abdomen above the spinnerettes tells us that it is an immature individual. The one thing that people know about black widow spiders is that they are extremely poisonous.  Their venom is something like 15x more toxic than that of a rattlesnake.  The saving grace is that there is very little venom injected from a black widow bite than what a rattlesnake can deliver.   The good news is that black widow bites seldom lead to death.  You are more likely to suffer nausea, muscle pain, and swelling around the bite.  Symptoms usually last only 12 hours or so.  Death may be a result in people with compromised immune systems or in the very young or the elderly.   In 2018, it was reported that there were 1015 cases of people bitten by black widows.  Of those, there ...
Read more

The passing of a generation

Image
Kathryn's mom and dad with our children, Josh and Leanne. A generation, for North America, tends to be between 20 and 30 years.  During that time a couple will give birth and raise children to see them repeat the pattern as they themselves have done.  Each generation has its own set of standards, values, and ideals based upon their experiences and culture, and some of that is passed down to their offspring.  What changes are the life experiences of the following generation and the new customs and ideals that are blended together as a couple becomes a family. Kathryn's mom passed away a few days ago, she was predeceased by her husband several years ago.  Both of them were the grandparents of my children, the mother and father of my wife, Kathryn.  It was my pleasure to know them and to love them as my own, for to me they were Mom and Dad.  And they were there to welcome my children into the world just as my children were with them in spirit when they left it...
Read more

Hang in there, things will get better.

Image
The Svendsen Family - Eric, Samuel, Leanne, Joshua (top row), Nora, Kathryn, Chanelle, Emma If I could go back, in my mind, to a day in my life when I was really down, it would be nice to be able to see into the future.  If could see things as they are today, with the many blessings that have been given to me, it would give me hope knowing that things wouldn't always be so discouraging.   The message here is we do not know what the future holds.  When things are bad, it is hard to raise your head out of the mire to see beyond the darkness.  There are no guarantees, of course, that things will be better, but I think it is true that fortunes ebb and flow as tides do.  The trick is to see beyond the low points and not be too haughty during the high ones.  I know that, at this moment, things are very good.  What the future holds is unknown, but low and high points are likely in the forecast.   This is why taking satisfaction from the moment ...
Read more