Grandpa, tell me bout the good ole days............

[ovrszd]

While we're on the subject of pictures, my mother is going through boxes which were taken in the first half of the 20th century. Of course the original photographers are all gone, and she constantly laments that none of the photos are labeled, so she has to guess about many of the people there.
My grandmother came over from Germany on a steamship in 1917 when she was 14... one of her relatives sent her to live with her aunt here, to escape a planned marriage.

My Mom did very well with this. All my life I've watched her get out pictures and inquire to visiting relatives to gain more knowledge about who, when, where. I had her write the year taken on the back of those that weren't labeled as such. I'm the only one in my family ancestors now that even cares about it. So I try to pass on what knowledge I have to my heirs.I I've started concentrating on pics taken in my lifetime. Identifying all those in the pics, date, where taken, etc. When I'm gone that information is gone. My Mom who died 3 years ago expects no less.

 

[Oaktree]

While we're on the subject of pictures, my mother is going through boxes which were taken in the first half of the 20th century. Of course the original photographers are all gone, and she constantly laments that none of the photos are labeled, so she has to guess about many of the people there.

My father was into photography when he was young. One of my sisters kind of inherited a lot of his old pictures (mostly negatives)...she got one of those scanners that will convert a negative into a .jpg. Very few were documented, and many of the pictures were taken long before he met my mother so even she doesn't know what a lot of them are. Still interesting to see pictures of my hometown pre-WWII, even if I don't recognize a lot of the landmarks (and none of the people other than my grandparents, aunt and him).

 

[JethroB]

My Mom did very well with this. All my life I've watched her get out pictures and inquire to visiting relatives to gain more knowledge about who, when, where. I had her write the year taken on the back of those that weren't labeled as such. I'm the only one in my family ancestors now that even cares about it. So I try to pass on what knowledge I have to my heirs.I I've started concentrating on pics taken in my lifetime. Identifying all those in the pics, date, where taken, etc. When I'm gone that information is gone. My Mom who died 3 years ago expects no less.

After both our parents passed a few years ago my sister and I were cleaning out their home. We thought we were done then I find a hat box of photos we had never seen before. It was our grandparents collection from the early 1900s through about the forties. Unfortunately few were dated or labeled so we did not who most subjects were. My sister says: Just think, 30 years ago Dad was going through this same process after grandma passed. That thought got our goat...

 

[JethroB]

My father was into photography when he was young. One of my sisters kind of inherited a lot of his old pictures (mostly negatives)...she got one of those scanners that will convert a negative into a .jpg. Very few were documented, and many of the pictures were taken long before he met my mother so even she doesn't know what a lot of them are. Still interesting to see pictures of my hometown pre-WWII, even if I don't recognize a lot of the landmarks (and none of the people other than my grandparents, aunt and him).

Same here. My dad was into photography in his teens. During WWII he took his camera with him when stationed in Calcutta India. I have maybe 100 pictures of street scenes of India, a British colony at that time.

 

[two_bit_score]

There is a local tire company that gave us great service. One Saturday I had several soccer games to referee. I stopped at the house between games and there were two messages on the answering machine. The first message was from my wife saying she had not one, but TWO flat tires. The second message was from a stranger saying they had found my wife's billfold. As the story unfolded, my wife changed one tire and got enough air in the other tire to make it to the local tire store. Remember, she has no ID or money. They looked us up in the computer, saw how many tires we had bought (two adult drivers and two teen drivers) and put on new tires with the promise she would come back and pay. The person that found the billfold was military and refused any compensation.

A day that started bad, but restores your faith in humanity. By the way, this local business has several stores and we had never done business with that particular store.

Doug in SW IA

It sounds like they realized that the customer is not an interruption of the work day but he is the reason for it!

Too many places act like you are interrupting their playtime when you walk in the door.

I have walked out of several places without buying anything simply because the employees never acknowledged that a customer had just walked in.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Sad thing is, they were probably happy when you left.

I think, when I leave a store, they make an announcement that everyone can come out of hiding.

 

[two_bit_score]

There is a fine line between coming across as an eager beaver salesman who just wants to pick your pockets and showing a genuine interest in helping valued customers.

It starts with that genuine interest in the customer.

 

[Industrial Toys]

If you don't like the states you wouldn't like Canada. Only place worse for customer service might be France or Germany. You could sit in an empty bar all day long with an empty glass as the waitress chats with the bartender.

 

[ovrszd]

If you don't like the states you wouldn't like Canada. Only place worse for customer service might be France or Germany. You could sit in an empty bar all day long with an empty glass as the waitress chats with the bartender.

I enjoyed the laid back atmosphere in bars and restaurants in Germany. They know how to relax. Eating a meal will take at least two hours. During the Summer on nice weather days they drag the tables and chairs out onto the sidewalk.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I unfortunately don't know how to relax with an empty glass! lol

Very common to see people eating with their dogs at their side too. But my God, don't try and ask for GRAVY!