Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 7-30-21

Editorial/Column
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
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IRIS HOLTON, CITY EDITOR
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Tell Us What You Really Mean
sk any African Ameri-
can male that grew up during the Jim Crow era and he probably can tell you about a negative experience he had with the police. I am well aware of such occurrences not only from hearing from others, but through personal experi- ence. While there have been several, here are two such in- stances.
In the late sixties, three fully grown men, my father, my brother and I were travel- ing to Tallahassee. My dad was driving and I was a back seat passenger. We stopped on the side of the road because the windshield had become se- verely smudged from dead bugs and needed to be cleaned. I got out of the car to perform the chore. Shortly thereafter, a sheriff deputy pulled up and immediately began calling us a few choice names of which the nicest was “boy.” Fortunately, for us, after asking a number of silly questions, he allowed ustogoonourwaywithno harm other than bruised egos.
On another occasion, my wife, my daughter and I were traveling through the back woods of Georgia in a new car
on our way to an award cere- mony for my son, who had just been commissioned a 2nd Lieu- tenant in the U. S. Army. We had plenty of time so we drove at a moderate speed while sightseeing along the country side. I was suddenly pulled over by a Georgia Highway Pa- trolman who falsely said I was speeding.
The officer never asked for my driver’s license or men- tioned speeding again. But he interrogated me asking such things as: ‘Where were we going? Who was in the car? What did we have in the car and could he search it?’ My greatest fear was that if I exer- cised my right to say no, he would find a reason to arrest all of us, tow the car and search it anyway finding what- ever he and his buddies planted and that we might dis- appear with no one ever know- ing what happened to us.
Not wanting my family to go through this, I agreed to the search. I had to swallow my pride and watch him search my wife and daughter’s lug- gage and their personal items. Not finding anything, he said that he was going to allow us to
go with a warning. Thankfully, once again, the only harm we suffered was bruised egos and deflated pride. I concluded that driving while Black on a Georgia road in a new car with a Florida tag made me a prime suspect for drug dealing.
While very upsetting to me, my encounters with the police were nothing compared to the many others who suffered life- threating injuries and even loss of life from those who are supposed to protect us. Each time I see such horrors in the news, I think that but for the grace of God, it could have been me. Some of us have begun to advocate defunding the police and sometimes in my outrage over police injus- tice to African Americans, I find myself agreeing.
After calming down a bit and thinking rationally, I real- ize that although some police officers are scum bags, most are decent people. And be- sides, I don’t know what de- funding the police means and I can’t find a clear definition anywhere.
Many others all over the country are demanding that police departments across the nation be reformed and their voices are being heard. With crime, especially violent crime, on the rise in our communi- ties, the rational me agrees with reform and I am certain that with the current crime rate, not even the “defund the police” crowd wants to live in a society without policemen. So please, tell us what you re- ally mean. Just another view.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
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Have You Seen Good Customer Service?
hatever happened to good customer service?
Have you even gone through the drive-in at your favorite fast food chicken franchise and had the cashier speak to you nastily because you asked a question about what sides were included with the meal you had selected because you couldn’t see the small type on the outdoor sign?
Or, have you gone through a drive-in and the sound box had so much static, you could not hear what the person taking your order was saying only to be told curtly, I SAID... with icicles on it or in a voice tone that our grand- mother would describe as “nice-nasty?”
We extend our appreciation to those fast-food workers, cashiers, receptionists, and other workers in the field of customer service who give excellent customer service. We applaud you for letting customers know how much you love your job and who show appreciation for customers patronizing your business.
Furthermore, we encourage you to continue to provide stellar customer service and to serve as an example to your co-worker who may fail to show customers that their business is appreciated.
We remind all customer service workers and business owners that you have a job and a business because of the customer’s love for your product AND service. Customers are not your enemies and ask questions because you are the person with the information they need.
Consequently, the tone of your voice can convey hostil- ity, anger, impatience, inconvenience, and other negative emotions to people you don’t know or people you have never met. Some customers will never return or choose another friendlier franchise and tell everyone they know about your poor customer service, which impacts your work hours and reduces sales and income.
Thus, we encourage fast food businesses or businesses that interact with the public in person or on the telephone to ensure that their employees receive customer service training, and that they perform their work using excellent customer service skills.
Moreover, encourage workers with poor attitudes to remember that their job depends upon customer service satisfaction.
NOTE: A “thank you” goes a long way towards ensuring the customer will return.
Local
Gabby Thomas Olympic Race Schedule
GABBY THOMAS
Gabby Thomas has a lot of support in Tampa Bay. For those wanting to ensure they see Gabby’s Olympic run, here is the sched- ule. All times are Eastern Standard Time:
August 1, 2021
200 first round: 9:30 p.m.
August 2, 2021
200 semifinal: 6:25 a.m.
August 3, 2021
200 final: 8:50 a.m. a.m.
August 4, 2021 4x100 first round:
August 6, 2021 4x100 final: 9:30 a.m
Be sure to tune in to watch this young lady set records.
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FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 5-A