Good afternoon Pops and Thirsty Thursday to everyone. Just returned from a jaunt to Bee Cave, an Austin southern suburb, to do some banking, drop in Whole Foods and check out the new Total Wine that just opened there. The banking was uneventful unless you consider the banker and customer sitting in masks normal. I don't and told him it was much more fun going into the liquor store in a mask.
Total Wine was interesting as they just opened and I was asked at least 10 times "can I help you"? The 10th time was by a fellow customer that got caught up in it I guess but I did ask him to be by wingman and tell the others "no thank you" because my fuse was getting lit. I had never seen so many eager people. So, guess what? I needed help after all. And yep, I didn't see any of the 50 "can I help" people swarming the store but did find this guy and the conversation went like this. "Hi, excuse me, can you tell me where the vermouth is"? "The what"? "The vermouth". "Is that a bourbon"? (OK, we're both wearing masks so there is that) "No, vermouth is used in making Martini's and Manhattan's". "Oh, I only work in the bourbon department for now, you want some bourbon"? (OK, now I am glad I've got this big mask on because I am starting to lose it and I am not in a hurry so let's have some fun) "Hey, that's an idea, let's go over to the bourbon and I'll start making us a couple of Manhattan's but we will eventually have to find the vermouth, which is what I came in for". Unbeknownst to me, the manager and asst manage had come up on the conversation and were eavesdropping and the guy said "in that case, I'll see if I can help you find the vermouth first".
The two managers could no longer contain themselves and burst out laughing and I joined in and they introduced themselves and apologized and explained almost the entire staff was new on purpose. They didn't transfer people in and decided to hire people that had been put out of work by the virus. He did show me to the vermouth and they were out of my brand, Noilly Pratt, and I said I'd check back because this was going to be my new go to liquor store and I hoped they didn't start charging a cover. He started laughing again and said he'd been with the company for a while and this was the most different and fun opening he'd ever had. Then his asst manager walked up and told him that a shipment of that vermouth was due in at the end of the month and the manager asked for my address and said he'd like to send a complimentary bottle to me when it arrived.
On the way back home I thought about missing being able to tell my salespeople that story. I was getting annoyed at all of the "can I help" and then came upon the most fun and unknowledgeable employee I ever encountered in a liquor store but was no closer to getting my Noilly Pratt and then came to find out they were out of it. All around wasted trip until the manager showed what customer service is and how it can reverse the tide. And as usual, I would have asked my salespeople "what's the moral to the story"? And they, of course, would have missed it. I would have closed out with "don't be so damned picky about the least important part of the cocktail". I liked tricking them, I miss that. They could always depend on me for a meaningful story with a stupid moral.