LET'S MAKE A STAND FOR EXCELLENCE

One of the people that inspire in me empathy and affection is Bob Ansett who teaches that in customer relations all businesses should strive for excellence.

When I was in my well-travelled twenties my uncle took me to dinner at the elegant Monsignor's Restaurant in Sydney which was run by a man named Antonio and his wife, Bianca. She cooked, he served and they both pursued excellence.

My uncle ordered a good wine and, as Tony uncorked it at our table a few small pieces of cork fell into the wine. That's perfectly normal, and it's why the host pours the first quarter inch of wine into own glass before serving his guests. Tony did this for my uncle, who, seeing a bit of floating cork said, "I'm sorry, Tony, but this wine is corked!" (Corked wine is when the wine takes on the taste of a rotting cork). My uncle had really goofed!

I watched Tony carefully. A flicker of surprise barely touching his feature, though I could almost feel him biting his tongue. What he said was, "I'm sorry, sir, I'll change it at once."

Tony became one of my role-models and I introduced many clients to his restaurant. More recently I took my family to McDonalds in Caloundra and ordered for myself some chicken McNuggets. "What sauce would you like?" I was asked. There were small tubs of tomato, barbecue and tartare sauce. "I'll have the tartare, please." "I'm sorry, sir. You can't have the tartare." the girl told me. (I could see a tub of it going to someone else). "Why not?" "You can only have that with fish nuggets."

I offered to pay an extra dollar, I asked to speak to the manager... all to no avail, and I've never been back to McDonalds. I've just returned from Tasmania on the "luxury" TT Liner, Abel Tasman.

I decided to let my head go and dine in the Frecinet Restaurant aboard. I know exactly what I wanted to eat. Half a dozen fresh oysters and a rare Porterhouse steak with salad and a good Tassie red. "I'm sorry, sir," the charming waitress informed me... "You cannot have Porterhouse steak with oysters." "Why not?" (a McNugget flashed before my eyes). "The menu has changed. Oysters are on the A La Carte menu and porterhouse is on the fixed price menu." "but both are in the kitchen, are they not?" "Yes, sir, but you cannot have them together."

Well, the girl was really sweet as she explained that her orders came from Head Office and she knew is was crazy but... I didn't get my order.

The point of all this is to warn you that, more and more, businesses and the establishment are putting rules and regulations before ethics and commonsense. Fight them brothers. Give 'em hell, sisters. It's time to demand excellence. Together we can do it!

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