Solving problems

As I instruct my class, the students quickly learn the phrase "There I wuz..." means an illustrative story is about to happen.

So, There I wuz…Running an auto repair shop. My role as manager had me doing everything from greeting customers to diagnosing cars to cleaning the waiting room. ‘Manager’ is a shortened way of saying ‘Make it Work’.

It was in this role that I was approached by a little old lady, a customer, and simply the sweetest grandmother on this earth. She held out her coffee that she had poured from our waiting room pot, and said “There aren’t any stirrers left. How can I stir my coffee?”

She was right. We had run out of stirrers, that was MY fault, and I knew it. At that point the Technician brain kicked in, and I said “I’ll take care of that for you ma’am, please let me take that for a moment”.

She handed me her cup, and I procured another one from the coffee station. Carefully, I poured the coffee from cup to cup several times, and then handed her coffee back to her. She said “Now, I NEVER would have thought of that!”

I replied “We are technicians ma’am, we spend our days solving people’s problems for them. It’s what we do and we love it!”
That was an honest reply, and also it’s what I try to help my students understand. Auto Techs *solve problems*. Sometimes minor, sometimes major, but almost always important to our customers.

It’s a point worth thinking about. Whether we be lawyer, doctor, business manager, or lucky enough to be a technician, our primary goal is usually solving people's problems... isn't it?
Ya’ll have a great day now, ya hear?