Happy Memorial Day Weekend. Time for remembrance. Time for summer. Time to get to work.
When I was a kid I had three different jobs: a paper route, cutting lawns, and scooping ice-cream. One person I met at all three was, “the customer.” At the first job, the paper-route, I didn’t see the customer every day, but I would if I missed a house, got bit by their dog, was late, or needed to collect money. At the second job, cutting lawns, I’d see them if I missed a spot, got stung by a bee from their bee box or needed to collect money. And at the third-one, scooping ice-cream, there was a never ending line of them out the door, especially on hot summer nights. I met the Little League teams, the vacationers, the daters, and the rest of small town Mattapoisett.
The best feeling in the world was knowing the customer was happy. And I would know that by how I felt inside. And, to me, that’s capitalism. It’s not Wall Street or leverage. It’s a simple, special relationship between you and the customer—someone I will make sure both of my kids meet at an early age. Because at the end of the day we all need the customer.
