My First Day of Work

Wouldn’t you know that on my first day of work there would be complications; so much for an easy transition back into the realm of the employed. I think I handled it with aplomb though.

I had to deliver a lift chair to a nursing home. My father had warned me that this customer of twenty years was finicky and hard to please. I just laughed it off thinking I could handle any situation.

I loaded up the delivery van and headed out. Neal accompanied me. We soon arrived at Savannah Court nursing home and I backed up the van to the door we needed to unload at. A young and pretty black lady stepped outside and told us where to deliver the chair. We both grabbed the heavy chair with our hands and lugged it to the elderly lady’s room. These lift chairs have a heavy electric motor inside them and are burdensome as hell.

We sat the chair down in her room after moving her sofa over a few inches. I wanted to make sure it reclined and could also lift her up. It turned out after all that work she was not pleased with what we delivered.

“That is not the color I ordered,” She replied.

The chair was a kind of mauve and she had apparently ordered brown. It fit in with her current furniture nicely I thought. Neal agreed.

“I just don’t think I can be happy with that color,” She said.

“Ma’am, would you like us to take the chair back?” I asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” She said. “My cousin is coming tonight and maybe I will ask her opinion.”

“Well, you can use this chair in the mean time and call Angie (my father’s co-pharmacist) in the morning,” I replied. “She can sort out this matter with you.”

I was really unsure of what to do and just winged it.

“We will be glad to order you a new one and swap this one out,” I further replied.

“Maybe I should call my power of attorney and she what she thinks,” She said.

“You do what you think is best, ma’am,” I replied.

“I once ordered a mattress and it was too soft,” She said. “It hurt my back and I made them come back to pick it up to return it.”

She went on and on about her unpleasant mattress buying experience and I did my best to appease her. I assured her that we would go to any lengths to make her a satisfied customer. Finally, I had to leave as I had other deliveries to do.

“Ma’am, you call us if you need anything else,” I said.

By this time, she was already fully inclined in the chair and watching television. She bid us goodnight. Apparently, she liked the function of chair pretty well. I guess there are some people you can never fully please and my father had warned me about this customer.