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The death of Nationalism or just plain apathy?

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This past weekend in the United States was Memorial Day weekend, a date that has become the unofficial start of summer.  Cook outs were had, parties were thrown, pools were re-opened and most of us got to enjoy a long weekend.  However, as I was driving around Town (probably heading to the grocery store for the 3rd time as I can never seem to get everything I need on the first pass) I was struck by the lack of outward celebration/reverence for what Memorial Day was set aside to actually commemorate – those who are and have served this great nation with their military service.  The lack of the simple act of putting out a flag was so noticeable that I conducted my own non-scientific survey…..just under 15% of homes recognized Memorial Day in my Town in 2015.

Now before the town-folk come at me with pitchforks and torches, there certainly were pockets of patriots, the occasional street that was lined with Old Glory on both sides for 4-5 houses in a row would lift my spirits after driving dozens without a single flag in place.  And to be fair, I did not drive the whole town but I believe the sampling size was large enough to reflect the larger apathy that has set over our nation as a whole (this is definitely not just a ‘Town’ thing).   I am also sure there were a lot of good “reasons” that people skipped this year:

“I posted an update on Facebook” – I am sure that reached more people anyways than those driving down your street.

“I need to replace my flag – it got tattered in the last storm” – Fair enough, they sure are hard to come by this time of year.

“I was traveling for the weekend” – Yep, busiest travel weekend of the year according to AAA.  Be sure to set the timer to the lights on your house and have a neighbor check on it.  We want to make sure it appears like you are home.  Perhaps the neighbor could set out your flag to make it appear as you are there?

“Storms are supposed to be really bad this afternoon” – Legit excuse for the afternoon but what about the morning?

“I don’t support the current/past/future administration’s foreign/domestic/space policy” – what does that have anything to do with reverence for the volunteer military and honoring those who have and continue to serve us?

However with all of those “reasons” for a lack of public display in place, I want all of you old enough to own or rent a home to think back to September 2001.  America had just experienced the largest single event causing loss of civilian life caused by a foreign militant in the history of our nation.  As a collective we were hurt, we were in shock and we found ourselves craving a common symbol of strength to show our unity, our resolve and our commitment to not let others intimidate us.  What symbol did the nation turn to?  Old Glory.

You saw the flag everywhere – literally.

flag on ft

Firefighters flew it from the back of their trucks

Every Police cruiser in American had a decal on the trunk or side panel

Nearly every house flew the flag daily for months

flags on cars

They routinely were placed in the passenger windows of automobiles

Every news anchor, politician and late night talk show host wore a flag pin on their lapel

You couldn’t avoid the flag if you had to and that was on non-holidays and lasted for months.

So here we are in 2015.  In the 14 years since 9/11 we have fought 2 foreign wars, suffered multiple terror attacks, seen citizens of the world beheaded on live internet feeds and live under the constant threat of danger (just this morning the FBI warned the public about potential threats on airliners bound for the US from foreign ports – as a regular traveler I cannot express how comforting that is), yet if I were to take the actions of the multitudes of North Texans (arguably the most vehemently patriotic of all the states) as a leading indicator – we could care less to recognize or honor those who have physically defended our right to choose not to honor them.

America as a nation is not perfect.  There are many faults – not the least of which is our growing inability to empathize with those who hold different viewpoints than our own but I do not believe that Nationalism is dead.  I believe that those that I live around still believe that we have the good fortune to live in the greatest country that has ever existed.  I also believe we let ‘busy’ get in the way of ‘important’.  Showing reverence for those who have sacrificed some or all is important.

The good news?  We get two more chances in the next 2 months to make it up!!

Flag Day is coming on June 14th –  Here is your official 2-week notice to get your tattered flag replaced.

flags

July 4th is right on the heels of Flag Day –  If you are traveling, perhaps we have that neighbor help by putting out the flag in your absence.

So town-folk, I am asking for you to prove me right.  Prove that nationalism in North Texas (or wherever you live) is not dead and that you just got busy.  I dare to dream of a town where on the Fourth of July, there are as many houses with an American Flag flying in front as those that put pumpkins out for Halloween (or dare I say it – lights for the Holidays!?!?).   Can we make that happen?  Can we show those who continually sacrifice that their service is appreciated?

I know you can and I can’t wait to see the streets on 7/4/15.

In the meantime, safe travels and I will see you at the Fourth of July picnic.

City Reviews, Family, My Favorite Things, Travel

The power of the #hashtag

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Over the past two weeks, I have had a couple of travel experiences that have been less than optimal to say the least.  It eventually happens to all of us.  A room isn’t ready, a flight is oversold, a car smells like smoke…you get the point.  The interesting part of these deficiencies is both of them involved my accommodations, both involved me posting on social media about the deficiencies and both were from service providers that I used to be employed by.  Most importantly, both resulted in great stories of how service providers are utilizing social media to ensure that they are providing superior service.

The first of the deficiencies occurred as my family and I were traveling for Spring Break back east.  I had found a great deal on a 2-bedroom suite with Oakwood, a company that provides Corporate Housing and is the absolute leader in the space.  Having spent 6 years with this group, I know the quality standards they have and the systems in place to ensure these standards are lived up to.  You can imagine my surprise when after checking in, I found a pretty major defect that was very evident (see below).

Oakwood Arlington

Now my son was too young to remember living in Oakwood Apartments but in fact he has lived in 4 different Oakwood buildings across 2 different states.

Howard Ruby

He was less than impressed with the portrait of Howard Ruby, one of the founders and owner of Oakwood Worldwide, on the wall of the lobby but I know that Howard is not willing to put his name on anything other than the best.  In this particular case, they had come up short.

The day after I posted on Facebook about my experience at Oakwood, the Community Manager was calling my cell phone and sending me emails in an attempt to rectify the situation.  My family and I headed out that morning to do some site seeing and by the time we returned that evening, we did not have a new cushion on the couch, WE HAD A NEW COUCH AND LOVE SEAT!!   They identified an issue, worked to rectify it and followed-up with me to ensure that I was satisfied.

Great customer service!!

Fast forward 2 weeks and I find myself in Atlanta, arriving at my hotel at a very late hour only to find that my room has been given to someone else and there are no longer any rooms available with Marriott.  Now this is the company that I went to work for after leaving Oakwood and I am an extremely loyal Marriott Rewards member.  I am also not afraid to post on social media in order to get a response.  The way these two organizations responded is telling of their social media savvy and customer service.

With Marriott I used a different medium, Twitter.  After getting bounced late at night, I sent the following tweet:

Marriott Tweet

Upon seeing the tweet, Marriott customer service representatives contacted me directly asking for details and explained to me that there is actually a policy in place with Marriott that if they ever have to walk an Elite Guest, they will not only pay for the room at an alternative brand but also cut the Elite Guest a check for their inconvenience.  The General Manager of the hotel is scheduled to reach out to me and I am sure that Marriott will be conscious of when/where I go next.

In both of these cases, these service providers were actively monitoring their on-line presence, discovered a deficiency and remedied the deficiency.  I never expect a provider to be perfect but I do expect them to remedy when a deficiency is brought to their attention.  This was executed flawlessly by both Oakwood and Marriott, thank you both.

There are also several lessons here for the savvy traveler:

Loyalty and relationships matter

If I had not been known by Oakwood or had been an Elite Member at Marriott, I am sure my experience would have been different. Organizations reward your loyalty so pick a brand/hotel/location that best fits your needs and make yourself known.

Reach out when there is a deficiency

I could have easily just lived with the tear (I actually had intended to – the facebook post was more for my former comrades in arms than to raise any type of stink). Top notch providers of any service want to provide superior service but no one is perfect.

Be nice

There is a time for a more direct approach but social media is almost never the medium for that (and way too many people use it for just that purpose).

Follow-up

In both of these cases I made sure to post on the same medium how wonderful the group was for rectifying the situation. If we all shared at least 3 compliments for every criticism the world would be a much better place.

Monitor your hash tags

If you are a business owner or a business influencer, I cannot stress enough that in today’s world, you have to monitor the hash tags relevant to your business. For decades business have been surveying guests to get a pulse on their performance, now people readily share with the world how you are doing.  Are you paying attention?

How about you?  What stories of phenomenal customer service do you have?

Looking forward to hearing them and we will see you on the road!!