Does It REALLY Matter What Theople Pink?

These past few months, I’ve learned a few things from a few co-workers about what they believe it means to be a man.

With the recent “Man Laws”, brought to us by Coors Light beer, our society seems to have begun to redefine masculinity. For Christians, such books as Wild At Heart seem to give their take on masculinity.

Now, so far what I’ve “learned” from my co-workers:

*When two guys go to see a movie at the theater, they should sit with one seat vacant between them; otherwise, others might think they’re “gay”. And definitely, don’t share a bucket of popcorn!

*When two guys go out to eat, they must sit across from each other, never directly next to each other.

So, are we as men attempting to prove our masculinity to ourselves, or to others? Are we as men THAT insecure in our masculinity? And if so, why? Just to WHOM are we trying to impress or prove? Are we more inwardly focussed on ourselves, instead of outwardly focussed on God, His Kingdom and the lost?

Recently, I read in a church newsletter some statistics on male leadership (or, should I say, the lack thereof).

The days of “The Waltons” (betcha none of my readers know who they are!), “The Brady Bunch”, “The Rifleman”, and “I Love Lucy”, where the husband/father is the head of the household and financial provider and leader-by-example of masculinity in the upbringing of his sons and the mother in turn leads by example femininity in the upbringing of her daughters are long gone. Instead, we have an almost extinct mother-father relationship and that may or may not exist in a marriage! Or, we have couples who have a combined credit card debt in the five digits in the never-ending pursuit of an attempt to keep up with the Joneses while also pursuing double incomes “success”. Unfortunately, this results in both parents being absent during the child(ren)’s bonding and formative years (thank you, daycare![tongue-in-cheek]), latch-key generations, and baby-sitting computers, video games, Internet and/or television, High Definition or not. And who are we to blame? OURSELVES! We no longer have male role models and, it is my opinion, it has resulted in an increase in both leaderless households, effeminacy or struggles with homosexuality or same-sex attraction.

EXCELLENT Customer Service

The following letter of accommodation was written to O'Reilly Auto Parts:

Dear Sirs,

I noticed the other day that my car was overdue for its annual state inspection and proceeded to do so. Unfortunately, it failed due to badly worn windshield wipers and was referred to O’Reilly Auto Parts Store #527, located at 2109 West Parker, Suite 100, Plano, TX, 75023.

Initially, I purchased a windshield wiper but had some difficulty getting them replaced and installed on my 2003 Suzuki Vitara, especially in 32 degree weather. After going in once to purchase another wiper (they came singularly packaged) and inquiring as to what tools were necessary to replace my wipers, I was told by the salesperson that no tools were needed and that it was simple to replace.

Well, after a few minutes fumbling and finally getting my old windshield wiper removed from its arm, a man exited the store and offered to help me replace my windshield wipers! He wasn’t dressed in anything to depict his employment but I got the impression that he was a businessman. After a few minutes, he (not we) had not only one but BOTH windshield wipers replaced and offered to throw away my old ones for me! It wasn’t until I thanked him profusely that we introduced ourselves to each other and then I learned that he was Fred Tobon, the manager of the O’Reilly store there.

This day and age, customer service has been reduced to phone menu trees and Websites with automated emails. Personal customer service (like back in the day when there was such a thing as “full service” gas stations) is almost extinct. I want to personally thank you for training your managers to be more than managers but customer service managers and hopefully, shining examples to both their employees and other customers like myself, of what customer service should continue to be – personal and customer-focussed.

Needless to say, my car passed its inspection and its due to the EXCELLENT customer service received from O’Reilly Auto Parts Store #527’s manager, Fred Tobon.

Sincerely,

John M. Kirton II (signed)
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cc: O’Reilly Auto Parts – Corporate Office
O’Reilly Auto Parts, Store #527
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