Okay, I am an American...and I have an American mentality according to my husband. Surprise! Surprise! Here is the scenario: Our oil burner which heats our home was recently cleaned and fixed...recently being in the past month. Well, it worked great for about 2 weeks, but the past couple weeks has been making some really loud and scary sounds when it's turned on. So, my American mind says "Call the repairman and have him FIX what he did wrong." I just find it too coincidental that something new could be wrong when two weeks ago it was given a clean bill of "health". Erwin says that's my American mindset...not that the burner could be 25 years old and something more gone wrong, but that the repairman failed to fix it properly. So, to please my husand I pulled it apart myself this morning; cleaned the connectors, pulled all the fuses out and stuck them in again, pretended I knew what I was doing to get the burner back to a prime working state. Amazingly enough, the noise is gone :-) At least at this moment in time it's running smooth and humming. And in place of the burner, I am running in a state of confusion. Do I have an American mindset and is that wrong? Am I someone that puts the blame on someone else too soon? What do I need to do to FIX my own thought process? Sincerely, I believe that I am a very open person and not quick to put the blame on someone else unless they have earned it. Yet, I did want our burner fixed properly, the first thought popping in my head that something was done wrong. I also firmly believe that after paying someone to fix our burner it should be running well, and that really, I shouldn't have had to mess with the wiring and connectors. However, I was quick to judge, yet solved the problem on my own very simply and quickly without needing to retrieve Mr. Reapirman and tell him he did something wrong. This is two-sided to me and I fall on each side. Maybe I do have an "American mentality" but I wonder if that is the wrong way to think. I really like the customer service that is offered in American in comaprison to here. The belief that "the customer is always right" is one I lived my entire life, especially as my parents are business owners and we dealt with customers every day of our lives. I like the fact that when I am unhappy with a service that I am compensated for it. In the areas I have lived in Europe, that is NOT the mindset. Here, it's more a matter of "Well, that's too bad." Erwin is right. I do have an American mindset...America was my home for 30 years. And in the scenario with our burner, maybe I was too quick to judge. However, I still like the American way of thinking. If I order my steak rare and it comes well-done I want a replacement. Here, you'll be lucky to get what an American even considers a steak...haha...and that my friends, is definitely an American vantage point! Wrong or not...
Morning, afternoon, evening or night...life is always happening. Let me tell you what's happening in mine.
5.01.2006
American Ways
Okay, I am an American...and I have an American mentality according to my husband. Surprise! Surprise! Here is the scenario: Our oil burner which heats our home was recently cleaned and fixed...recently being in the past month. Well, it worked great for about 2 weeks, but the past couple weeks has been making some really loud and scary sounds when it's turned on. So, my American mind says "Call the repairman and have him FIX what he did wrong." I just find it too coincidental that something new could be wrong when two weeks ago it was given a clean bill of "health". Erwin says that's my American mindset...not that the burner could be 25 years old and something more gone wrong, but that the repairman failed to fix it properly. So, to please my husand I pulled it apart myself this morning; cleaned the connectors, pulled all the fuses out and stuck them in again, pretended I knew what I was doing to get the burner back to a prime working state. Amazingly enough, the noise is gone :-) At least at this moment in time it's running smooth and humming. And in place of the burner, I am running in a state of confusion. Do I have an American mindset and is that wrong? Am I someone that puts the blame on someone else too soon? What do I need to do to FIX my own thought process? Sincerely, I believe that I am a very open person and not quick to put the blame on someone else unless they have earned it. Yet, I did want our burner fixed properly, the first thought popping in my head that something was done wrong. I also firmly believe that after paying someone to fix our burner it should be running well, and that really, I shouldn't have had to mess with the wiring and connectors. However, I was quick to judge, yet solved the problem on my own very simply and quickly without needing to retrieve Mr. Reapirman and tell him he did something wrong. This is two-sided to me and I fall on each side. Maybe I do have an "American mentality" but I wonder if that is the wrong way to think. I really like the customer service that is offered in American in comaprison to here. The belief that "the customer is always right" is one I lived my entire life, especially as my parents are business owners and we dealt with customers every day of our lives. I like the fact that when I am unhappy with a service that I am compensated for it. In the areas I have lived in Europe, that is NOT the mindset. Here, it's more a matter of "Well, that's too bad." Erwin is right. I do have an American mindset...America was my home for 30 years. And in the scenario with our burner, maybe I was too quick to judge. However, I still like the American way of thinking. If I order my steak rare and it comes well-done I want a replacement. Here, you'll be lucky to get what an American even considers a steak...haha...and that my friends, is definitely an American vantage point! Wrong or not...
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The "American mindset" it's a very double sided issue. I am sitting at home right now, on paid sick leave. Well, the American in me feels guilty for this, even though we both know that it is justifiable and probably better for me that I'm not working at the moment. That is one of the negative things that comes from the "american mindset." I don't think that you can look at it as being 'judgemental.' The main difference is in work ethic. You should never have to pay someone to do something that they don't do right. It wasn't your job to fix the burner and yet you had to take it apart and clean it all up anyway. Of course, that could just be the 'american' part of me speaking :)
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