Nobody Wanted Our Money!

           We were in Washington DC last week for client meetings.  We elected to go to dinner at a well-known chain restaurant that has a reputation for good food and service.

            Our party arrived, middle of the early afternoon, and the host told us that he could not accommodate us for at least 2 hours.  Whoa?  What is going on?  What happened?

            Well, the host said that they only had 2 servers on duty, they were overwhelmed and “he” elected not to seat any more guests!  Well, the restaurant is not THAT GOOD that we were going to argue, we could see that there were many extra tables, however, as we elected to dine elsewhere, our party talked about this approach that the host used.

            We had a better idea!  Why not tell us that the restaurant was short staffed, that service was slow, but the food was wonderful—and although the service would not be up to par, he would be more than happy to provide us with complimentary wine and crackers until our meal was ordered, prepared and served!  How hard could that be?

            OK, alcohol is a big money maker in the restaurant business.  About 3 drinks from the bottle pay for the bottle, at wholesale prices.  The remaining 23 glasses are pure profit, at $7-9/glass.    It appeared to us even if everyone in our party had 2 glasses and ate a whole box of crackers, the restaurant would still more than make up for the slow service.  Interestingly, there were several in our party that do not consume alcohol, but would have been just as happy with a cup of hot coffee and the crackers.

            Where was the manager?  We wanted to know that question, however, this is one time that because we elected to go elsewhere, there was no point in trying to find someone to make an executive decision!!!

            The bottom line result—loss of a large party, several entrees, dessert and some alcohol.  Seemed to us that nobody was doing the thinking here in this restaurant.

            What would you have done?  Tell us, we are interested.

Philanthropic Giving at Christmas Time

     Today, we helped support the Southside Christmas Store at the Southside Church of Christ here in Fort Worth, Texas.  Steve Cloer is the preaching minister at this church.

      The store supported 300 children with basic necessities as well as a toy, game or ball for Christmas.  These are children that,  through no fault of their own, would not have anything for Christmas if it were not for folks who are interested in sharing the many bountiful blessings that they have.

        Solomon Bruce Consulting LLC is a strong supporter of community efforts in a wide variety of philanthropic areas, especially in those areas which focus on literacy, homelessness and teen age pregnancy.  We strongly believe that help and support in those areas will aid and assist those individuals who are less fortunate.

         The entire multi purpose room at Southside was full of gifts that the children and parents could "shop" for.  Maintaining a strong sense of dignity, developing relationships and sharing a kind word are all goals for this inner city church ministry.  The joy that we witnessed was overwhelming!!!  Many folks said that if it were not for this outreach program that Southside Church of Christ has, their children would have nothing for Christmas.

          One of the parents that was a helper told Joe Michels, our managing principal in the Fort Worth office that her daughter had no idea that children less fortunate than her had less than her.  This mother said that when she heard that, she knew that she wanted to become involved and show her children what others less fortunate had to deal with.

           The holiday times are meant to be joyous, caring and loving.  We at Solomon Bruce Consulting are happy that we are able to aid and assist in community programs that benefit those less fortunate.