By Dixon Bledsoe
I went to a Rotary International conference for president-elects this month and came away more impressed than ever. It is nice to be part of a group that has virtually wiped polio off the face of the map, helped thousands of people worldwide get access to clean water, and make their own communities better through local service projects. As Rotarians, our driving force is “The Four-Way Test of the things we think, say, or do.”
It would behoove many people to ask these four questions prior to thinking, saying, and doing things that can’t be taken back.
The Four-Way Test questions are:
1. Is it the Truth?
2. Is it Fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build Goodwill and better Friendships?
4. Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?
A good example? I don’t know, Facebook, maybe? I may start calling it Faceless Book, because so many people think they are hiding behind the curtain with the so-called great and powerful Oz and lose all social filters, writing things they would never say in person.
A few weeks ago on Faceless Book, a comment was made about terrible service at a local Silverton restaurant on the site, “Silverton Restaurant Reviews.” Excuse the pun, but it started a “feeding frenzy.”
People started lobbying for their own favorites and denigrating others. In the old days, if we had crummy food or bad service at any business, we told a few others in our circle of friends. If we had guts and tact, we would tell the server or the owner constructively so he or she would know how they were doing and could correct problems. Now all you have to do is post it on Facebook and it can go viral in a matter of moments. Destroy a business? Check.
Try the Four-Way Test. Is it the truth?
For the person whose meal was served cold, probably. For the other 200 meals served that week, probably not.
Is it fair to trash a business or person on social media for one error? Not really, because in nanoseconds, you help dozens of people decide the place is not worth their patronage, and they are going to perpetuate someone else’s “perception” as a fact for the masses to live by.
Will it build goodwill and friendships? No way, except perhaps between two parties trying to put a competitor out of business.
Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Absolutely not, with one exception – Was it really food poisoning or a virus just passing through? If it is the former and confirmed by your doctor or a preponderance of evidence (four people in your party had the prawns and all became ill), you are doing a community service but please start with the owner. If it is the latter but you post that it was the former, it fails all four tenets of the test, miserably.
What should we do?
Tell the server the food is cold and ask to have it heated up. Send it back if it is terrible. Take the owner aside, thank them for all they do in the community like buying your kid’s Girl Scout Cookies or band uniform, then tell them about your experience, in a helpful way. They will do one of three things – A) Correct the problem, B) Ignore the problem, or 3) Deny/excuse the problem. Most business owners are smart enough to know that there is only one logical choice. For the dense ones, let me help – the answer is A. By offering an upset customer a complimentary dessert or to pay for their dinner, you show them you care about them and want their business. It’s also good for your business’ public relations – ask yourself would you want people hearing how you corrected the situation or hear the unresolved complaint?
As long as we draw our relationships from the human race, there will be human errors. Your “taupe” may be my “tan.” But if you hear it, read it, see it, or feel it, do your homework and try the Four-Way Test before you “feed” it to the lemmings. It’s impossible to get a horse back into a burning barn.
