Friday, February 28, 2014

Relationships are like Peanut Butter and Jelly

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"Relationships are like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You always start with two very different spreads but with at least one commonality. The Bread. The bread is what holds the differences together but allows for each to stand alone as well. But once you bring the two sides together, you can never really have the two original sides as you did when you first started making the sandwich. A little jelly will always stick to the peanut butter, and a little peanut will always stick to the jelly no matter how much you try to separate them. Like our hearts, once you have given even the smallest piece of it to someone else, you can never really have that piece back. It’s theirs. It’s theirs because you gave it to them. Sometimes bringing together the two sticky sides can make a real sweet snack, or it could be a sloppy mess of either too much jelly, or too much peanut butter. When you have too much of either spread, it means the other isn’t giving as much as the other is. Therefore, overpowering the beautiful potential of the other to really taste good as it should. And when there’s a PB&J casualty of either spread slipping out of the bread, sometimes it’s best to call it quits and start over. No one wants a leaky PB&J. No one wants a leaky heart to love. So when it’s all said and eaten (like my PB&J that I have in front of me as I’m typing this), be careful who and how you choose to give your heart to someone. But then again, you never know how delicious that sandwich might be if you never try to make it in the first place. So let your heart steer your knife, and let your conscious be the plate." 

-Alvin

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Firing People & Free Food: Grubshack Edition

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A little back story about the eatery, Grub Shack is an Asian-fusion/Hawaiian restaurant in downtown San Jose. A little back story about my business ideology, I strongly believe every business should have a great focus on customer centricity. I don't care if I'm making $10 or $10 million dollars. If my stakeholders are not happy, my business is doing something wrong
Long story short, I enter the eatery with my friends and I was welcomed with one of the worst customer service experiences. I quickly expressed my thoughts on Yelp as descriptively as I could (Excuse my rushed response and grammar). 

Yelp Review in text below:
As of today, 9 people thought my review was cool, 9 other people thought my review was funny, and 2 other people thought it was cool as voted by Yelp readers who came across the review. For those who aren't on Yelp often, that's actually a good amount of attention within that small time span. 
A week later, I get a message on yelp from the general manager stating, 

At first I felt super bad because I got her fired, but he messaged me and said that was the 3rd incident someone has spoke up against her so I guess I was the final tipping point that cut the rope for her. I don't regret anything I did because hopefully, she learned form this mistake and finds a better job with her improved personality and skills. Or I corrupted her biweekly income and she no longer can afford making rent or tuition so she drops out of school and spends her time behind her television screen and eating ice cream. It can go both ways, but I digress.

I finally came into Grubshack last week and got a free meal for two as promised. Prompt and friendly service, my friend and I feasted on some more than enough food to handle. I then proceeded to update my Yelp review to save face for Grub Shack because I felt like that was the right thing to do. 

Now that is how you save a customer.