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Getting the day started

Sometimes getting the day started is more difficult then normal. There was this particular day that my driver just couldn’t get going. He was given his manifest and left, about 15 minutes later he was back because he forgot to load the truck, so he took out the manifest and checked the delivery schedule and loaded up and left.  He called from I-95 to see if he left his manifest at the loading dock, which he did and back he came. He arrived at his first stop and realized he left his hand truck at the warehouse and instead of borrowing one, back he came. He started out again but decided he should go to the bathroom before he left. As he drove off we all wondered how soon he’d be back. He must have just driven around the corner because he was back in minutes. The truck needed gas.

Posted in Delivery Drivers.


Taking care of private business in here!

We always had a rule in print shops that there were no personal calls unless an emergency occurred. With cell phones it became harder to monitor calls. One day out of frustration one of my bosses declared that all cell phones needed to be shut off when you came to work. One day I walked past the bathroom and heard someone talking. At first I thought nothing of it since I only heard  one voice. When I got back to my office the plant manager asked me if I had seen one of the pressmen. When I told him I thought he was in the bathroom the manager took off and started pounding on the door and fired the pressman on the spot. He was missing hours during the day hiding in the bathroom talking on the phone.

Posted in Employees.


Where are you?

Every night on my way out of the office I call my wife and let her know that I am leaving. Each time I call I am reminded of my last boss, whose wife also expected his call before he left. One night it was around 5:00 when he left the building and went to his car. A few minutes later he came back in and went back to work. It seemed strange to me so I asked him and he told me his wife always asks if he’s in the car when he calls so he makes the call from his car whether he is ready to leave or not.

Posted in Bosses.


What if that spills?

I had just started a new job for a printing company and noticed that the very young receptionist was rude to people both internally and on the phone. Being the new guy I waited and watched before I was going to say anything to my new boss, the owner of the company. On my third day she was drinking coffee at her desk next to her computer and the switchboard. I suggested that she move the coffee away from the computer and the phone, she looked at me as if I had two or maybe even three heads. At that point I went to my boss to speak about her. Before I got to his office I heard a scream from the front office and saw that the coffee cup spilled on the phone and her computer. The phones went dead as did her keyboard. My boss comes out of his office looked at me and said “that’s what I get for hiring my daughter.”

Posted in Customers.


Open on the weekend?

Why do people ask questions and not listen to answers? I just received a call asking for our hours. The woman said she saw on our web site we were open 8-5, M-F. When I said that was correct she asked me if anyone would be there after 6:00 or on the weekend.

Posted in Customers.


Press 1 for English?

I was working at a large printing company in Broward county several years ago when we bought a new paper cutter. It was state of the art with computer controls to plan the positions and make the cuts. It had a screen that you program and it told you what was the next step as you went forward. The screen was programmable in several languages. The weekend after we had it installed my boss brought in his family to show off the new equipment. He had his parents, in-laws an aunt as well as his wife and children. He turned on the cutter and the screen comes up in Spanish, which he didn’t speak or read. As he turned beat red in anger and embarrassment his wife looked at him and said let me try since I can read Spanish. His wife proceeded to set up and cut an entire job without really knowing what she was doing. With pride my boss declared he planned it all along to show how great the new cutter was. Monday he stormed into the bindery and demanded to have the cutter reset in English. It was at that point we found out the man that did all of our cutting could not read English.

Posted in Customers.


Only talk to me via e-mail

I had been working with a customer on a job that required proofs. She insisted on only working by e-mail. The problem arose when we sent the first proof and it was returned because the email address was incorrect. I called and got a second email address. By the fourth try she said we could fax the proofs since her email was not working properly. We faxed and her number was disconnected. She gave us a second number but that did not work either. I had my design department print out a hard copy for all the pieces and brought them to her. So much for technology.

Posted in Customers.


Good Morning Bill

How important is using the right name? I was working at a printing company about 15 years ago when they hired a new bindery manager. The first morning I came in and called out good morning Bill and there was no response. After three days of good morning Bill without a response I went to the plant manager and said that the new guy Bill is very unfriendly. He looked at me with a very quizzical look and said who’s Bill. I answered the bindery manager; he responded his name is Steve. The next morning I came with a big good morning Steve and he responded with a big “good morning Bill”.

Posted in Customers.


Good price

After faxing a quote to a customer I called to see if she had any questions. Her only question to me was “is this a good price?” For someone that is never at a loss of words I was only able to come up with “sure.” She said OK and gave me the work.

Posted in Customers.


I gave it to you

Something happened to me today that made me laugh out loud. For over 10 years I had a boss that was not the most orderly or organized person. He was always be looking for something on his desk or in his files. When someone gave him something and he would come to him or her later with a question he was always told “I gave it to you”. I believe that people took advantage of him constantly because they knew his ways. I was just writing an order up when I couldn’t find the information I needed. I went to the person who gave me the information and she looked right at me and said “I gave it to you it’s on your desk” I walked back to my office and looked at my desk and realized what I have become. Tomorrow will be better.

Posted in Employees.