CUSTOMER SERVICE OR CUSTOMERS WE DON'T CARE

Have you ever gone into or called a business and were so frustrated
by the way you were treated that you wanted to call the police?
 In many cases you are spending your hard earned money
and not getting that "American Customer Service" mystique from
days gone by. In this blog post I will expose some
businesses that do not practice good customer service.
First; my credentials. I have worked in a Customer Service capacity
for AT&T (aka AS&S), Bell South, WACHOVIA (aka watchova ya), The Ritz
Carlton Atlanta, Weston Peachtree Plaza, The Double Tree Hotel and Guest
Quarters Suite Hotel where I was the PBX operator, relief for front desk agents
and reservations agents as well as the gift shoppe manager for $7.50/hr
and this was with a college degree.

When I am spending money for anything; I expect the seller to treat me like they
are pleased that I chose to shop with them. We all know that in many instances
that is not the case.
Last year (2014) I purchased a desk top from a "company" in Texas DBA Computer
Refurb and K-Tech. What they do is send an immaculate looking pc filled to the brim
with all kinds of viruses. Customer Service (a kid named "Chris") says send it back,
we'll pay the return and charge you $10 to reformat the hardrive and I would pay
return shipping. I ended up paying to ship the pc back, $10 for the reformatting
and paid for the return shipping witch occurred a month later. When the "reformatted"
pc arrived it was not the original pc. The reformatted pc was in worse condition.
I paid $187 for this p.o.s. and bad customer service
The BBB (Better Business Bureau) at the time had numerous complaints under both
DBA's.

I sometimes ride MARTA (aka Moving Africans Rapidly Throughout Atlant). One
day I forgot my "Breeze" card. When I boarded the bus I started searching for the card.
The bus driver (a short, fat, Black lady with a bad attitude) launched into a verbal assault
on me. She said "Git your Black ass off my bus; I'm on this rout all day. You're not stealing
a ride on my bus. At the time I had 3 $20 bills in my pocket but of course I could get no
change if I put one of them in the slot. As the bus stops at Star Bucks at Peachtree Battle
Shop. Ctr.; I tell the bus driver to kiss my ass and showed her the 3 $20 bills. I went into
the Star Bucks to get change and decided to buy a cinnamon bun to get change to get back
on the bus. The Black lady behind the counter corrects me and insists that I ask for a
"morning bun". At this time of course I tell the cashier you can call it a cinnamon shit ball
for all I care I just want change. I got change and left the cinnamon shit ball.
Budget Car Rental has recently been the very worst in Customer Service. On their website;
they boast about their "Pre-pay" car rental option is the best in town. None of their locations
honor their "Pre-pay" at all on any day. When I called them on this; the representative
disconnected the call. I rent from Hertz now. With Budget; if you use a debit card, they will hold
over $200 at time of pick-up. When the car is returned; in 2 days the hold drops off.  4 days later
the hold is back and 5 days later the rental fee appears sans the remainder of the hold.
AT&T is scamming their customers like the mafia. My family has been loyal customers of
AT&T/Bell South all my life. When I moved into a new apartment after having their home phone
service at the previous address; AT&T charges me 2 months in advance. I'm not sure I want to
be your customer in 2 months; let's play it by ear. Burger King's slogan used to be "Have it
your way." I went into the BK on Old National Hwy. and asked for a whopper with ONLY lettuce,
tomato, ketchup and mustard. I received 2 all beef patties special sauce, mayo, snot and spit on
a sesame seed bun. I'm not kidding right now because there was snot and spit and mayo on that
burger. Believe it or not, that wasn't even the worst part. When I walked in the
door of the BK the kitchen personnel erupted in noises that actually sounded like zoo noises.
I should have turned around and left but I had errands and I was hungry until I ate the dirty
sandwich.

So what recourse do we have when businesses want us to pay our hard earned money for
awful service. First make your case clear to the agent you are dealing with tell them what
you expect. if you still get no results; everybody has a supervisor. That is to say everyone has
to answer to someone for their job performance. The situation with customer service has
become so dire that I ask for a supervisor often and I get results often. State the words
"You have a job because I am your customer." Whatever it takes let Customer Service
Agents everywhere know we as consumers will get the type of service we deserve and pay
for. You may have noticed that businesses like Hertz and Humana send surveys. Capitalize
on that opportunity to say exactly what went wrong and what you expect the next time to
call or come into the establishment. Some companies really do want to hear from it's customers.
With that; in ALL companies there is a supervisor looking for a reason to terminate the very
employee you are having trouble with. Also performance surveys are like "currency" to employees.
Often times, raises and promotions are determined by the content of performance surveys.
Finally, beware; as a former restaurant waiter I need
you to know not to send the food back in an angry manner. Unless you can stand and watch
your meal being prepared be kind to your servers.

BLACK MEN+WHITE WOMEN: A FAD OR THE NEW ORDER

This blog post took a long time even to start because of the sensitive nature of the content.
I should start by saying I'm sorry if any person or race is offended by the content of this
post. For more than 10 years I have witnessed the slow methodical migration of White
women to the arms of Black men. In the early 80's my older brother married a White
lady and fathered 3 children. I tried to remain open minded even though it didn't feel
right. At the time I spent much of time in North Carolina where I attended college. While
back home on a break; my mother recounted an altercation between my mother and
my brother's wife. My brother, his wife and their first born were living with my parents
and not contributing to household expenses in any way. My mother handled the altercation
in the way you might expect an African American mother to handle it.

I filed this information away and tried not to make much of it. Soon after an African American
icon of pop music Michael Jackson courted and married not 1 but 2 White women. I sat up
and paid attention at that point. Because another brother of mine was about to wed a woman of
Asian descent [Chinese]. My head was starting to spin out of control as one Black man
after another started to couple with White women. I'll be the first to admit that Black women
have their own set of "issues". As Black men we are conditioned to not only be tolerant of
these issues but to also coax, encourage, convince whatever word you like; Black women
and men to be better African Americans for each other. If for no other reason but to keep the
African American race alive.

I'm reminded of a time right after I graduated college; one of the first jobs I was allowed to
work was at a women's apparel shop in the stock room. One day a sales associate (a White woman)
approached me and uttered these words "Bo, do you like sex? I was thinking of having
you over to the house if that sounds good to you." I was mortified. I started looking for
another job and the sales associate was arrested a week later for stealing money from the store.
 She was probably looking for a scape goat. O.J. Simpson married a White woman and that did not end well nor did it discourage any of the Kardasian women from grabbing their own "Black raging
bull". I say that because to me it seems those Black men are just being objectified.

As a Black man who has spent a lot of time with other Black men; I feel that most Black
men do not mind being objectified. That is where I am stuck. It's a choice that these
men make for themselves and there is nothing I can say about that. Sure every
adult should make their own decisions about their mate; but at what cost to their own race.
Webster's defines  Ethnocentrism as having or based on the idea that your own group or culture
 is better or more important than others. This rings true for me but I must add that the African
American race should be more important to African Americans.

FAMILY MATTERS?

I, like so many others have come to the realization that "family" now means the poeple
that treat you better than those related to you by blood. It is difficult for me to pin point
when this phenomena began. For me after a series of family tragedies; I suddenly
realized that my blood relatives in total hate each other. Understand this realization
came in the midst of family tragedies. Arguably, a time when family comes together
for mutual support and compassion.

Born the youngest of 5 children in Atlanta GA, life was a dream.
We had many of the same ups and downs as any other family.
The only way in which we differed from others in our community is
we (I) was raised in a 2 parent home. My parents stayed married until they
both passed away in 1998. In retrospect; the dysfunction that that began years
before could be seen as an omen.

One of my brothers (2nd oldest) began drinking around the age of 16. By the time he was
18 he was hooked on crack. I don't need to detail the residual attrocities that came from him.
soon after; I discovered that several of my first cousins were addicts as well. By 1986, I
could only stand the company of persons not related to me by blood accept of course my
Mom  and Dad. I think back on that time and try to consider what I could have done
different. I draw a blank because I was close to perfect as a child. I gave my parents very
little grief. In fact I did not visit very much grief on any of my family members.

You may wonder why in 2014 I'm still stressing over Family Matters. The simple answer is
I WANT to have a congenial relationship with my family but I can't do it by myself.
Though too many of my cousins are addicts;  the one's who aren't have
carved out a nice life for themselves. There is where the disconnect is really visible.
If you are without substantial resources or do not posses a high earning potential; you
are not invited to holiday functions, weddings, birthdays etc. But you will be provided with
the details of the event after the fact. To the point; you are great with my family if you
have a lot of money but treated like a leper if you don't.

Today, my best friend is like a "real" brother to me and he, like my real brother is a recovering
addict. You can understand why I'm still in therapy. Maybe you've heard the phrase
"analysis paralysis". It means I'm not doing anything because there is too much going on
in my family and in this country for me to effectively execute a plan of action. Perhaps you
could join me @BoHennessy on twitter and maybe a beneficial dicussion will begin

RETURN OF THE BLOG: AN OPEN LETTER OF WHAT TICKS ME OFF

First and fore most isis is a bunch of female monkeys. What

else would you call group of idiots maximizing on the strife

of unsuspecting Middle_Eastern citizens? I have had it up to here

with all this terrorism bullshit. It is not difficult to see that

that terrorism in it's entirety does nothing but destroy life,

homes and families. I challenge each and every member of isis and

all other terrorist groups (you know who you are) to take inventory. That means take a moment and think about what you are doing. Are more people dying for no reason at all except they are of a different religion. Exactly what have you gained from you sinister

efforts? Nothing at all because every year like clock work you have "Arab Spring" But now you do have target on your back and America is

gunning for you. Bad luck in all your endeavors.

This one will make enemies for me; but corporal punishment is sometimes necessary.

Of course if you have a troubled child the scientific approach is step one. Once the

child is determined to be free of mental or neurological affliction; a time out is not

going to work. As a child my dear father spanked each and every one of his (5) kids

when we committed a major screw-up. He used a black leather belt. In my senior year

of high school, I took a new Buick Electra for a test drive and in the process caused

damaged to one of the rear wheels. I was 17 and was spanked with that leather belt.

I would never dane to tell a parent how to raise their child. However, as a former

teacher I saw first hand what the lack of discipline can do to a classroom.

We all know teacher's are not paid enough to educate your children and be correctional officers. Some kind of happy medium must be met.

Microsoft is becoming my #1 mortal enemy. Every time I upgrade my operating system,

I find that I either purchase another upgrade or spend too much money installing

components that were for some reason removed. For example; support for windows xp

was discontinued so I decided to upgrade to windows vista. I have (5) web cams (2 of them new) and none of them work on windows vista because the video capture feature in vista

was disabled. No person on this earth will ever be able to explain to me why I can't record

web cam video on my computer after paying $70 for windows vista.

Google chrome is a fucking joke. Do you remember Internet Explorer? You could block pop-ups easily and they would not cause a problem. The geniuses at Google forced us to use chrome because now Internet Explorer simply does not work and pop-ups are destroying my computer and my online experience even though pop-up blocker is activated.

Last but not least, spousal abuse, the NFL and Rihanna is becoming an unnecessary distraction for a nation in turmoil. We have entire families going to bed hungry every night.

We have parents locking their babies in stiflingly hot cars and we as a nation are being stalked by terrorists; but we are expected to care that Rihanna's song is not featured at a football game? I must be crazy because I still love this country, but we need to fix this.

Some Mistakes Were Built to Last

This country-wide racism we are experiencing has gotten out of control. Maybe

you've heard the phrase “Crazy is defined as doing the same thing over and over

and expecting different results.” That's were we are with racism because it will never

go away; it will continue to ruin lives, families and relationships. This is true because

“Some mistakes were built to last.”

I can see no way to undo all the oppression and abuse of Black (African American) persons

starting before the birth of this nation. Generation after generation of White (Caucasian) persons

were taught that Blacks were the worst possible example of a creature along with our

Jewish friends.

Here is what I would really like my White countrymen to understand;

it is now in our (African American's) DNA to react a certain way when we encounter

a White person we don't know. This reaction will not always be visible, but it's akin to a

chemical reaction in the brain especially when the White person is a Police Officer.

Imagine not knowing what to expect from a person who's job is to “protect and serve”.

Then imagine a relative, loved one or yourself; being beaten, shot and or killed by this person.

How would you react? The question is not rhetorical.

Dig this; a neighbor of mine who is wheelchair bound and Caucasian; started a conversation

with me outside our building. I had seen her in the building but I did not “know” her. I

was naturally cautious for the reason I explained earlier. The conversation ended

without incident. A week later at Publix ( the most racist supermarket I have ever had

the displeasure of shopping in). I saw my neighbor lady across the store about 40 feet

from me. We saw each other at the same time and before I could wave or anything,

she sped away from me in her chair at about 50mph. I didn't know electric wheelchairs

could go so fast. It was because she did not want any upstanding, white people to see

me with her. Furthermore, at this particular Publix which is just 2 blocks from our building

the employees must recognize me; but I am followed around the store every time; to be

sure I don't shoplift just to make it plain.

My point and the moral to this story is that I'm surprised there are not riots everyday in

every city where Black people are treated like Michael Brown or Treyvon Martin. At this

point in my op ed piece I'm sick to my stomach. It does not feel good to dislike a person

or people simply because they are White or “different”; but this happens to me and mine

everyday!!!!

I'm at the point where unless there is a real ground shaking true dialogue about racism

in this country; no one should exhibit any surprise about anything that is a result of this

ignorance we call racism or prejudice.

AMERICA THE SUCKER

America the Sucker

America no longer belongs to Americans. I'll explain; White supremacists say America

belongs to the White race. Mexican citizens say since Mexico is not safe that America is now their

new home. We now give billions of dollars in financial aid to more than 1 country. At the end of the day how much of America is left for people born here such as myself.

Think of America in terms of a “pie” chart ; every country in distress first looks to America for money, armaments, personnel and anything else they can strong arm out of us. At the end of the day how much of the pie is left. It's not rocket science; there is nothing left for Americans. The worst irony is that we are by and large envied and hated by much of the world. I can not speak for anyone else but this makes me feel like a sucker. It seems ridiculously simplistic; but I think ALL assistance to other countries should be put on hold. I need you to really hear this; assistance should be put on hold until:

• Our veterans have their diverse needs addressed
• People who want to work but can't because they have bad teeth they can't afford to fix,

have resources to travel to interviews, access to reorientation for today’s job market

• We address our deteriorating “get rich by any means necessary” culture fueled by

people in power giving too much credit to young Americans simply because they are young.

• Revisit what “The American Dream” truly should mean to Americans who were born in America.

I am not naive; the points listed above will be impossible to enact. We owe it to ourselves to ask

“Why can we not accomplish what America needs to accomplish?” We are also owed an answer to that question.

I have been a part of the work force since the age of 11 (child labor laws be damned), I excelled in school and earned a BA degree. I don't mind working I'm not afraid of working; but to be brutally honest I currently live below the poverty line. To borrow from the UNCF (United Negro College Fund)

slogan “We're not asking for a handout...just a hand”

Sadly, I have had to resign myself to just knowing that I have great and awesome abilities that will go untapped. Since I know I'm not the only American that feels this way; I welcome any comments pro or con. The dialogue that could be sparked is key. We have to start somewhere or soon we will all be a bunch of suckers speaking Chinese or Farsi.  

America, Israel and Palestine: The Axis of Insanity

It is difficult chosing a side when it comes to Israel or Palestine. They are each sovreign citizenships and constiuencies. However, lately self preservation has become, to me, more important. When I say "self preservation" I'm speaking about our beloved country The United States of America.

The evidence that proves that the intentions of hamas are not innocent;
is readily available in this age of information. In the online post "Hamas History & Ideology" we find that
"Hamas was founded in 1987 by Sheik Ahmed Yassin and Mahmoud Zahar during the First Intifada as a wing of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. However, firstly, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood calls for the establishment of an Islamic legal system in the Muslim world and only afterwards it turns its attention to the issue of Palestine. On the other hand, Hamas views jihad as the only way of solving the Palestinian issue. Sheik Ahmed Yassin stated in 1987 through the Hamas Charter, that Hamas was founded to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, Judea & Samaria, and the Gaza Strip. The very first quote of the Hamas Charter defines its Islamic supremacist character". At what point do you stop telling someone not to place their hand on an open flame. When that person becomes an adult. So in the name of self preservation the United States should first revisit over $8 million dollars in aid to Israel. for the simple reason that there are American citizens who can't get hired because of serious dental issues among other serious homeland concerns.

Next why not , once again, bring leaders of the Israely government and the Palistinian government together; confront them with the truth about hamas and make it clear they they each have a choice. Either recognize that neither Palistine nor Isreal should be villanized in today's reality; or allow the true villains-hamas to destroy them both from within.

It may sound calloused or cold but long live America at any cost