I have often lamented (that's the Biblical word for "complained") about the absolute death of customer service in the United States. I am so tired of being "helped" by young people who have no investment whatsoever in the success of the business for whom they work. Customer service is so generally bad in the United States that when you have a contrary experience it is something to celebrate. So many business act as if they are doing you a favor by providing you with goods or services. What a sad state of affairs (In fact, as much as I despise the kind of business model Starbucks imposes ont he world, I will patronize Starbucks because they are one of the few companies left in the world for whom good customer relations is a guiding principle for the company. )
I have found the Arab community here in East Jerusalem to be counter-experience of American customer service. Whether it is the bus driver making sure I know where to walk when I get off the bus to arrive at my destination, or the man fixing my Arab Coffee, or selling me falafel on the street, for the first time in a long time, I actually feel like these merchants want my business. But good relations goes far beyond that - thay want to personalize the service because it is just the right thing to do. I suppose I could synically say that they just want my return business, but it is clearly more than that - courtesy is an important part of this culture and courtesy to the stranger among us is a remarkably high value.
I had a great experience running some errands on Saturday. All of us decided to get haircuts and we went ot a barber around the corner from St. Stephens. This was two chair barbershop (a lot like old-fashion barber shops in the US) and both barbers were busy when we walked in. We would be the next 4 customers and sat to wait. The older of the two barbers (I assumed corrctly that he was the father of hte younger) called upstairs in Arabic to an even younger son, who descended the steps and served each of us a cup of Arab Coffee. Wow, that's a nice touch! It's also common in barbershops here. Men came and went - turns out this baraber shop is a crossroads in this neighborhood. Each of us got a haircut - the younger barber cut my hair under the watchful eye of his clearly proud father.
In the course of a conversation, another man in the shop mentioned that he was an optician - good, my glasses needed a repair job. I took advantage of his being there and showed him the problem with my glasses - he assured me it was an easy repair and told me of an optician around the corner. The barber told his young son to take me around the corner and show me where it was, which the young boy did gladly. The Father gave him some additional instructions I did not understand, I think it was something like "be sure to tell him I sent this customer..." I was impressed that the little boy was pleased to have been able to help too. My glasses were repaired in minutes and the optician was pleased to have been able to help me... That's the way it is - everybody is glad to help.
I have complained sometimes about the overly eager and aggressive tactics of the merchants in the souks and bazaars around town. But even that is part of what really adds up to great customer servce and a desire to help the stranger...
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