4 ‘ i on ' INSIDE COMMUNITY EVENTS B2 "JUST A THOUGHT KATHY FLORITTO Gone the way of the dinosaurs EARLY A decade ago, faced with rapidly declining returns and in- creasingly grumpy consumers, Ca- hadian retailers loudly proclaimed an exciting new solution for both.,.Service!! . What a concept! Always a sucker for a good jine, this one word punched the right buttons for me. Before cutting the ribbon on my first lemonade stand, my Dad offered what proved to be sage advice; ‘‘Your lemonade, your price and your location are excellent, but yours won't be the only stand in the neighborhood. The thing that will set your business apart from the one down the street will be the way you treat your customers. If you go the extra mile, theyll be back and they’! bring their friends.”’ He was right. Delivering optimum qualily at the most reasonable price possible is important, but it’s not a stand-alone philosophy. H’s an extension of the late Timothy Eaton’s “the customer is always right’, my Dad's “treat ’em right’ and, without question, the 11th Commandment’s “‘Do unto others.” So what happened? Did ‘‘The Plan” of the ‘80s translate into Consumer Nirvana in the ‘90s? Sort of... The small . independents, . usually more iy touch with their customer base than ‘thie’ large chains and who, for the most part, already knew the value of this old/new idea, reminded their staff of the imporlance of friendly, courteous service to everyone, shrews and curmudgeons included. they pointed out the ob- vious + dissatisfied customers become the builders of someone else’s profit margins...and ~somcoue elsc’s employment, But what of the “‘Big Guys?”’ Did the mes. Sage get past the CEO and PR desks of the mega-tetailers, the supermarket giants or the major financial institutions? I dunno... A few months ago, the depository in which I've been entrusting my post deductions pil- tance announced that, as part of its often-stated goal to serve its customers in the very best man- ner possible, it was introducing new services and new efficiencies. Curiously, two local em- ployees were declared redundant. So what happened? Did “The Plan’’ of the ‘80s translate into Consumer Nirvana in the 90s? Then, a nationally televised commercial an- nounced an e-mail address for customers want- ing a quick response to even the most trifling question. Not having a pen and paper handy, I missed the address. | called ny branch and asked for it. A voice at the other end said ‘‘Huh?" So far not so good, A cauple of weeks ago, ‘‘not so good’? took on a Whole new meaning. Running into my bank of choice, I discovered I was dead-last in a lineup of 27 people (1 counted), The snake-like formation reminded me of a time, years ago, When I darned near had heat stroke while standing in the California sun waiting to board a three minute ride at Dis- neyland. 1 vowed ‘‘never again.’ Figuring the odds of my getting oui of there in less than 30 minutes were zero to none, I de- cided my business would keep. Apparently, this was not an option for the silent, gimlct-cyed folks ‘stoically waiting for thal service so enthusiastically promised such a short time ago. A fellow standing by one of the teller looked somewhat managerial, so I ambled over and, gesturing at the forlorn looking group, said “Do you think The Plan is working?"’ “Oh! You mean the lineup?’ He looked sur- _ prised. ‘‘They don’t (AVE to stand there. They can use the machines.” ““But..But” 1 sputtered. ‘‘They’re your customers! ‘Is this a penalty for requiring per- sonal attention?”’ ~He looked at me as though I'd sprouted three noses. I scowled. He smiled. oo I wonder if that ad’s still running? Co ~--Sheleams-from their-experiences, “HOSPICE ISN'T just dealing with the dying; it's dealing with what life someone has left.’’ That’s how hospice volunteer Jackie Rose describes her work with the Terrace Hospice Society. .For three years now Rose has volunteered her time to be with people who are close to death. She’s there to offer support and comfort to the dying and to their’ family and friends, ‘'My kids think it’s weird,’” she says; “They don’t understand why I do it” Neither do many others, she acknowledges, For many people, death is a topic to be shunned. When people are confronted with death, they often don’t know how to react. That’s when hospice volunteers can offer help. “Is not morbid, sharing in the final life of someone,’' she says. “It's a privilege that someone would allow you to share that part of their life,’’ Regardless of the reasoning, il’s still difficult to put yourself in a position where you're coping with death on a regular basis, Rose isn’t sure why she was drawn to the hospice society. “If I can be there for someone now, maybe when the day comes when ] want someone around, they’ll be there.’’ She also thinks her realistic atti- tude towards death helps. “We're going to die whether we like it or not,” she says. But she doesn't try to fool herself about her own death. ‘Tm probably going to fight my own death like hell, just like everybody else does,’ she laughs. Rose also enjoys spending time with the elderly, who comprise the majority of hospice clients. she says, and she loves to Jisien to their stories. That's part of what hospice is about — listening, **The client leads you into areas they want to discuss,’’ she says. Sometimes that’s about a person they wish they could talk to, or | even fears about death and con- cerns about religion. Rose has to TERRACE STANDARD. : MMUNITY Lending strength at the end The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 8, 1996 - B1 - SECTION B HOSPICE VOLUNTEER Jackie Ro are not alone as they get ready to face their death. But hospice is about more than dealing with make sure that she never trics (p * death, it's about dealing with the life someone has left, she says. se has comforted a number of people, letting them know they impose her own views on them. CRIS LEYKAUF 638-7283 ‘Our personal beliefs have to be kept to ourselves,”’ she says. When someone asks her for her views on what happens after death, she turns the question back to that person. , **l ask what do you think will happen when you die?”’ Even the hospice volunteer's willingness to be up front about death can help someone who is dying, particularly when that per- son is denying his or her death. “A lot of family members won't say, “you know you're dying.’ We don’t argue the fact, don’t push it but we don’t deny the fact to them,’’ she says, ‘What we do is offer them an opening for them to talk about it, if they want. But it’s their death — they choose they way they want to die.”’ Discussing death isn’t hard for her. What Rose finds difficult is the short length of time she some- times has before someone dics. “Sometimes the type of rela- tionship you should really have with the person isn’t there be- cause of lack of time,”’ In those instances hospice volunteers can help out simply by offering family members time out to sleep, do errands, etc. while they sit by the client’s bed, Or many times she’ll help someone try to finish dealing with living, “They might want to go for car tides, ice cream, carry on hob- bies. It’s about making the rest of their lives happy. ‘fA lol of people want to tie up loose ends. [’ll probably have someone go around paying bills,” she laughs. Rose recently had to put the skills she’s learned in hospice to a very personal use. Her mother died last December, after being told of ber illness just five weeks before her death. ‘Because of my experience and training wilh hospice, my mother’s death was so much easicr on ty family,” she says. Her mother initially denied the fact she was dying, and Rose was able to help her face that fact. “The family saw it was alright to talk about il, deal with the facet she was dying and come to terms with it. If I hadn't done hospice before, I don’t think J’d have been able to do that,” Her family’s reaction to her mother’s death also differed — _ some family members cried while others showed their grief in other _ ways. ently. That’s something I guess I got out of hospice.”’ Despite her recent loss, Rose is back volunteering with the hospice society. ‘{ know what I’m getting “Different people grieve differ- into,”’ she says. The relationships you form with clients are dif. ferent than those you form with' friends or family, she explains. “You're not looking for any- thing for yourself in the rela-' tionship. There’s more giving than taking going on, though you can get a lot out of it,’” she adds. That doesn’t mean hospice volunteers can convince them- selves not to get upset when a client dics. The longer Rose spends with one client, the more difficult it is to accept their death, she says. “No matter how prepared you are, you still miss the person. When it happens it still hurts, You can only be prepared to a certain degree,’? But being hurt is part of our ex- perience as human beings. And Rose can’t imagine a time thet she won’t want to be a hospice volunteer, By DAVE TAYLOR RITA MACNEIL’S voice is soft and sweet, with a distinct sing-song quality that betrays her Cape Breton heritage. She sounds tired too, from over the phone in Fort McMurray, Alberta, And who wouldn’t be? Rita’s grucling sched- we has her juggling her hit CBC television show Rita and Friends with recording and tour- ing. it seems like she never stops working. “That just about sums it up,’’ she says. “‘Fit- ting it all in can be a problem, but I have to tour - it’s the best part,”’ Rita rolls Into town for two shows, May 10 and 11. It will be an acoustic show, with a four- picce band backing her up. The dates are part of the western leg of her cross-Canada small- venue tour. "IT get a lot of support from smaller com- munities and ] want to acknowledge that,’’ she says. ‘And I'm having a wonderful time,’' Rita's career hasn't always been so wonderful. She Iecft home at 17 to try singing in Toronto, but 10 years Jater she was left a struggling single mom, working as a waitress and cleaning lady to get by, She returned home to Big Pond, Nova Scotia where she wrote songs and- managed to get enough money together to put out an indepen- deat album, Born a Woman, in 1975. Rita recorded three more albums over the next ten years, but her big break came from the ex- posure she received performing al Expo 86 in Vancouver. She got rave reviews and has been on a roll ever since. To date, Rita has completed 13 albums, seven of which have gone platinum. She has won three Juno. awards, including one for female vocalist of the year, and numerous other music awards, Recently, Rita has tried to break into the U.S. market with an infomercial and earlier this year she toured Florida. “It was my first time there, and it went sur- prisingly well,’ Rita says. ‘We had assumed that most of the audience would be Canadian, but the opposite turned out to be true. It’s nice to know that I'm getting some American fans, and each step is a good one,”’ Rita’s music.ig an eclectic mix of country, folk, pop and Celtic, The songs from her latest album, Porch Songs, are honest and simple, 50 they are very listener-friendly. But she never _ breaks down to the level of cliche. Rita MacNeil - doing what she loves “T have a great respect for my audience,”’ she says. “My songs are about everybody. They are about people I’ve met, conversations I’ve had and places I've travelled to, These are the things that inspire me,” Rita's varied musical tastes are reflected on Rita ard Friends. Her program has become a showcase for Canadian talent, featuring an amazing variety of acts from George Fox and Jant Arden to Treble Charger and the Rheostatics. “Y love having different music on the show,” says Rita. “I’ve enjoyed so many different Styles through my life, it's nice tc have some say in who’s on, Of course, the CBC has a say too.’ Many critics are calling Porch Songs Rita's best album yet. It is selling well in Canada and she is getting calls to perform at festivals in the US. But Rita doesn’t seem too concerned with sales, “It's taken me a long time to get where I am,’’ she says, ‘‘But we all follow different roads and they take us to different places. If you're doing what you love, that's all that mat- ters,