EDITOR
Erin Gibson
OPINION
EDITOR
Cliff Hicks
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Nancy Christensen
Brad Davis
Sam McKewon
Jeff Randall
Bret Schulte
i
SYVn'lO:":
Greener
pastures
Campus changes
promise improvements
About a year ago, when we suggested Vine
Street be transformed into campus greenspace
between Memorial Stadium and 16th Street,
we didn’t think anyone was listening.
We said the wide, paved route into cam
pus was dangerous and unnecessary, and it
would better serve students as a grassy field.
One day, die idea was in print. The next
day, it was forgotten.
Or so it seemed, until we got a peek at our
campus* new Preliminary Master Plan and
realized someone else shared our idea, and it
could become a reality.
The transformation of Vine Street on
campus from thoroughfare to mostly green
space is one of many changes in the new
preliminary Master Plan that promises
improvements to the campus environment.
All changes will create a campus better
designed for pedestrians and a campus with a
stronger identity.
Some proposed changes shocked stu
dents Thursday and will require sacrifices.
The absence of the present Alpha Ghi
Omega Sorority house on a future campus
brought some of its members to tears. The
university will pay to tear the house down and
to rebuild it in another location.
Sane students were concerned about die
removal of several parking lots and the con
struction of three new parking garages.
Their concern about the increased cost of
parking on campus is legitimate. Parking
space in garages typically has cost much
more than other parking permits. Therefore,
shuttle and bus service must be improved as
part of this plan in order to accommodate a
greater level of pedestrian traffic.
Other students said they worried handi
capped students could have difficulty getting
to class when all students must walk greater
distances. The university must keep such stu
dents in mind when crafting this new campus.
Others were frustrated about how long
implementing the new plan would take.
But major changes take time. It took near
ly two decades for Kim Todd, former campus
landscape director, to create a laudably land
scaped campus. We must have similar
patience with this plan, for the Preliminary
Master Plan is a triumph.
It’s a plan that will visually unify campus,
could improve recruiting efforts once com
plete and could ensure a greater level of
£ pedestrian safety.
^ It’s a plan that will make this campus more
like a campus - a well-defined space separate
from die city of Lincoln and subject to a dif
ferent set of community rules and values.
It’s a plan that will improve morale and
will create a more livable campus with a
more scholarly, more communal feel that will
boost academics.
It’s a plan that will create a campus we
can’t wait to visit a dozen years from now.
And it’s about time.
solely me of
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Missing manners
Customers need to learn they’re not always right
wM lll'iii i I" III . Ill
TASHA KUXHAUSEN w a
sophomore news-editorial
major and q . Daily
Nebraskan columnist.
Too many of the customers I
encounter at work are extremely
rude to me, usually without reason.
Even though I was taught that
the customer is always right, there
often are times when I beg to differ
with this statement.
Customers are often very wrong.
People don’t seem to understand
that I actually know something
about the store’s products. I have
watched numerous videos and gone
through weeks of training, yet die
customer pretends to know more
than me.
If a customer doesn’t agree with
my knowledgeable advice about a
product, then to them, I am auto
matically wrong. I want to ask these
customers why they have sought my
help when they already have the
answers.
And I can’t count the number of
times that I have wanted to scream
at the top of my lungs at shoppers^
I run around the store waiting on
customers who want a specific item
that we don’t even carry, but they
won’t settle for anything else that
we have plenty of.
After I have worked up an
intense sweat, and discovered many
alternative products, the customers
often are not impressed. They storm
out without even a “thank you” for
the time I spent trying to fill their
needs.
I thought “please” and “thank
you” were the most basic manners
taught when a person learned how
to talk, but apparently there are
some customers who refused to
learn these.
Aren’t people grateful for help
or friendliness? I never forget to
show gratitude to a person who has
assisted me in some way.
Adults aren’t the only rude cus
tomers I encounter. The children
they bring with them into the store
often are worse.
Some parents don’t watch their
children while they are shopping. I
have had to remove children from
countertops and had to rebuild elab
orate displays knocked down by
children chasing each other.
But since the retail establish
ment where I work believes the cus
tomer is always right, nothing is
said to customers who are rude or
don’t silence their rambunctious
children.
r I also i^callmany occasions of
children running rampant through
the restaurant where I used to be a
cashier. Parents often did not make
their children sit for the duration of
a meal.
Waitresses were usually carry
ing large trays of food to and from
the kitchen. The ornery children
would almost always cause the food
to be dropped onto the floor.
Of course, my restaurant
employers also were very tolerant of
rude customers. It was better to
drop a steak on the floor than it was
to lose a customer’s business.
I personally wouldn’t want a
rude customer’s business. I would
gladly tell them where to go.
One of the most ridiculous cus
tomers I have ever encountered was
a woman who asked tu be seated by
the window for dinner. I politely
told her that all the window seats
were taken at the moment, and she
would have to wait until another
party left.
' She responded to my statement
with a shocked look on her face.
Without so many words, she told me
that she expected to get her window
seat, even if that meant moving
another customer to a different seat.
My manager then appeared -
thank God - and after a few minutes
of discussion, the woman and her
husband were finally seated at a
table that still had somewhat of a
window view.
Most public establishments such
as hotels, restaurants and supermar
kets are there to provide services to
customers: However, people should
not take advantage of their facili
ties.
In the small town where I grew
up, some friends of my family
owned a small business. Last year,
they retired and sold their store.
The former shop owners said
that in die last 10 years, people in
the community had become more
demanding ahd rude. They couldn’t
believe how drastically people they
had known for years had changed.
So has society in general.
I gave up die food business for
many reasons, but one of the main
reasons was because I was tired of
dealing with rude customers and
their undisciplined children.
I got away from a restaurant job
only to work with people again, this
time in retail.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my
new job. Helping people who appre
ciate my advice and assistance is
exciting. Many of the people I have
met through the retail business have
been grateful for my assistance.
But it is those few customers
who have been selfish and rude who
I don’t easily forget
I distinctly remember a cus
tomer I had fairly recently. The cus
tomer did have good manners. The
problem was that the person was
trying to return an item that was at
least two years old and worn to the
barest thread.
The customer expected us to
hand over a brand-new item for the
very worn-out version.
My manager kindly told the per
son that the article of clothing was
extremely old and the fact that it
had lasted for two years was a very
good sign of high quality.
We could not give the customer
a new piece of clothing for free. But
the customer insisted that the item
should have lasted longer and
demanded a replacement.
We finally gave in and handed
over a new item to the selfish shop
per. The person didn’t seem to
understand that if we were to always
give out new merchandise for free,
we would be out of business.
Helping customers is not a prob
lem; most retail establishments are
nappy iu. n is ucuuuig uvei uauK
wards for demanding, selfish peo
ple who simply want something for
free that we don’t care for.
When I meet customers who
doubt my knowledge of the store’s
products, I have to grin and bear it.
As much as I would like to strangle
the shopper with my bare hands, I
remain calm.
But if I owned my own retail
establishment or restaurant, things
would be different. I would bluntly
tell know-it-all customers that if
they can’t accept our service polite
ly, then I don’t want their business.
Until then, I will have to accept
the fact that the customer may
always be perceived as right.
This means that even customers
who are so dumb that they can’t tell
their left foot from their right are
“right” and I’m “wrong.”
No matter what they tell me, the
customers aren’t always right. And I
doubt they ever will be.
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