Thank you all for the sentiments.....I truly appreciate your concerns for me, but.....
(I started the around 4 am. As any of you know who do funeral work the morning of a visitation can be hectic. Customers don't understand the time it takes to make their orders. Today was no exception, except we were dealing with 4 funerals, two from the accident and two others.)
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......I have been around this type of stuff all my life, so for some reason, I didn't feel anything with this tragedy.... it might be because when I was 7 and 8 years old friends of mine were burned to death (twice).
It might be because a kid that was my age (12) was riding his mini-bike on the road and a car killed him. I saw him on the embalming table while making flower the flower delivery.
It might be the young woman, a few years younger than me, who was mugged and killed in Chicago, her casket was closed for viewing.
It might be when I saw a little 1 yr old dressed in a Chicago Cubs baseball uniform lying in his little casket..
It might be the maybe 100+, or close to it, babies born and die the same day that I delivered flowers to and looked at them in there little caskets....
It might be delivering flowers to the home of a friend of mine when her son was killed on a ATV a few years ago. The first thing she did was hug me. we hadn't seen each other in years but the first thing she did when she saw me was give me a hug.
long story short, before i typed this post, I really didn't feel anything, not sorrow nor joy about my added sales.
however, while I typed this I realized I have seen a lot of tragedy that most people don't see.
I don't know..... maybe my subconscious mind is telling me something, maybe ........ i don't want this to sound mushy ...... but these incidents have molded me and that is why I say the things I say about flowers to my customers and get frustrated when a customer says flowers are a waste of money......
It also maybe the reason I say the things I say here
I know sometimes I am pretty abrupt with my comments here and have hurt some of your feelings.....it is not intentional, it is just that I have seen a lot in this industry and sometimes forget many of you have not.
Serve your customers, serve them well.... frustrations come and go as well as the emotions of your customers.....
With that said, I also find it hard not to break down when long time customers come in and order flowers for their spouses, parents, grandparents or their children.
confusing? yes.
These images stay with you. thinking about it I have set casket sprays on thousands of caskets and have set flowers in front of 100's of infant caskets..... sometimes it is easy... other times not.
joe
