GESENHUES: Something to write home about

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July 22, 2009

By AMY GESENHUES The News and Tribune Wed Jul 22, 2009, 02:12 PM EDT

My great-uncle called me a few weeks back to tell me that he had a story for a column.

He and his wife had visited Carriage Ford in Clarksville and made a down payment on a compact SUV that had to be ordered. When the vehicle arrived, my uncle was not happy; besides being bigger than he wanted for his every-day car, his scooter would not fit easily into the space behind the back seat. He was certain that he would lose the down payment he paid because he had signed a contract.

He was wrong.

The manager of the dealership didn't bat an eye when my uncle explained why the vehicle was not going to work. Not only did they hear him out, they released him from his contract and returned his down payment in full. The manager's only request was that when he did choose to purchase a vehicle, he would purchase it from them.

“They didn't have to give me my money back, but they did anyway. You don't hear too many customer service stories go so well these days,” my uncle told me. His experience was so positive that he wanted me to write about it.

It's true that we don't often leave a customer service conversation thrilled enough to write a column about it. But, while listening to his story, another story occurred to me that superseded my great-uncle's story. I thought there was a bigger story here and it wasn't just about outstanding customer service. It was about someone of a more mature age being treated respectfully and compassionately, even when there was a fair amount of money involved.

With a full-head of white hair, my great-uncle doesn't look a day over seventy. He is funny and handsome and smiles often. He is my grandmother's little brother and, according to his wife, grew up under my grandmother's watchful eye. He appears to me to be someone who has always been very comfortable being himself (although, I'm not sure how comfortable he will be with a whole paragraph in the local paper describing him).

Now in his early eighties, he has lived a full life and both enjoyed and endured many experiences over the past century. By all accounts, my great-uncle is someone who should not only be respected, but listened to and learned from. He along with the rest of his generation (his wife and my grandmother included) has much to offer my generation. Unfortunately, I think that many of us are quick to smile politely and nod to our elders without really hearing them.

My great-uncle and grandmother have survived world wars; their childhood home did not have running water or electricity. Growing up, a majority of the food they ate was harvested from their own land. Honestly, if all the stores closed shop tomorrow (Kroger, Target, Sav-a-Step, Arni's), my great-uncle would be more likely to survive than I would be.

And yet, we often look toward our elders as not being capable. We forget just how capable they are and the wealth of information they have. Anyone who has lived to be eighty, ninety, or older, is doing it right. Just because they probably don't spend their day thumb-typing text messages or updating their Facebook status, doesn't mean they are out of the loop.

In fact, it's my opinion that they are much more “in the loop” than those of us who have been immobilized by redundant technology (yes, redundant technology ... how many more ways do we need to get a hold of someone). If being in the loop means living an authentic, meaningful, and full life, my great uncle has a lot more going for him with his 80-plus years of experience than my measly thirty-six.

So, thank you Carriage Ford for treating my great uncle with respect and going beyond your duty when it comes to fair practices. But, even more importantly, thank you for reminding me that I have a whole lot to learn from someone who knows a lot more about life (and surviving it) than I do.

Amy Gesenhues is a freelance writer in Floyd County. You can read her daily commentaries at www.AmyWroteIt.Wordpress.com or email her at amy@amywroteit.com.

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