The Scoop on Poop - #18 
By Susan Bashor-Reese
As we reach the peak of our busy season, we find ourselves getting over the whole “aiming to please” philosophy, (although, quite frankly, we wish our customers would continue). Ahh! Customer service - a sport like no other! It often feels like you’re a rodent on one of those Ferris wheels, running round and round and round, not really ever reaching the finish line! It doesn’t matter if you decide to go right, left, north, south, jig, jag, zig, zag, or ying, yang... there is always someone out there with a different view of how you should have approached that task (and all the while, we’re really just “aiming to please”)!
It’s 3:23 a.m. and I’ve just finished going through tomorrow’s service schedule (note: definition of self-employed: 3:00 a.m.) The burning question? Will we ever get it right? Don’t get me wrong, many, many days go by without a hitch. It’s the ones that don’t that make me blue grey. So, I think to myself “wow, another truck bites the dust, or why can’t we find that toilet this week, we found it last week?’ “Somebody out there ought to be able to get to this toilet and clean it”(no matter what side of the mountain it’s on). To the untrained eye, it seems a no-brainer... to those in the biz, summer portable toilet activity is like the eye of the storm.
As an employer, you can wish all you want, but you’ll be hard pressed to find employees who think like you do. Wow! What’s wrong with that? I’m so logical! Phil was logical too (in his mind) when he decided to make a road out of a jogging trail, taking every shrub and tree in 600 feet along with him. Hey, it’s just another front end, no worries! And what about “Joe temporary” who never really does develop a warm and fuzzy feeling toward the rest of us (or our equipment)? You’ve got to respect that decision to pass a wide load (and his pilot car), only to encounter a head-on hello with the side of a cliff.
If our customers (you) only knew that the effort to please is really there at the start of every day, it just sometimes, well, falls by the wayside (or off a cliff). My annual August solution? Run away? Another divorce? Hold on until the snow flies? This too shall pass (hopefully without any lawsuits). The bottom line? We’re taking care of your bottom! Isn’t that the crux of it? No matter where you ask us to go, or what you ask us to do, we just (sometimes stupidly) say YES! Because that’s customer service (or our lame idea of it).
Three AM? “No problem sir, we’ll be right over to clear that kitchen sink.” 3:00 AM? “No problem ma’am we’ll be right over to clear that plugged toilet.” 3:00 AM? “Excuse me? How much do we charge for a septic tank cleaning? Please sir, go to sleep and call the office in the morning!”
High maintenance... I used to think it was the description of some lucky broad (other than myself), who was well heeled and yes, well taken care of. Now I realize high maintenance is owning your own business and the stress that comes with it - and, yes the toll it takes on your soul. Note: definition of high maintenance: an insurance policy that covers hair growth in unforseen areas; blemishes other than pimples; (what the hell are cholesterol deposits?); professional coverage of grey hair, laser chin hair removal; intense psychological therapy and deep tissue massage. Now we’re talking “high maintenance”.
All kidding aside, there’s only one place to call for all of your poopy needs, and you know we’ll respond appropriately - because “Somebody’s Gotta Do It”.
Sweet Pea Sewer & Septic
9424 Futurity Drive (our newest location in the Missoula Industrial Park) and, since 1994 still supporting our Bitterroot communities from 633 Old Corvallis Road.
In Missoula - 728-3533
In the Bitterroot - 961-3377
