DaveInSaltLake
12-07-2006, 01:26 PM
(there IS an Audi twist buried in this rant near the bottom.)
A few recent experiences have driven home just how unique things are here in Salt Lake City.
It's more of an attitude that I attribute to a city often described as being 20 years behind the rest of the country in sophistication, cost of living, wages, attitues, and many other qualities....not unlike many small towns around the country. But Salt Lake IS different...we've hosted the Olympics!, we're an international snow skiing destination, an internation religious tourism destination, headquarters of numerous national companies and large manufacturers.
I think this mix of small town mentality, sophisticated expectations of visitors, the influence of ultra conservative values on the local politics, and probably a few other things that don't come to mind right now make for some interesting experiences. I strive to appreciate them for what they are.
One of the first things I noticed here was what I call the "front door ritual" at the bars (errr... "private clubs for members"). The nicer clubs in most cities work to make entering their establishments a rewarding and fun experience. Architects and designers are paid lots of money to make sure it's the right temperature and color, to make sure it smells good, to make sure foot traffic flows well, and to generally make a good first impression. While that may hold true for some businesses here in SLC, the clubs seem to have their hands tied in this regard. Take, for example, trying to get into The Bayou on a normal night. If you're early enough, you can line up at the door with a dozen other folks waiting to get into the beautiful, spacious club. The smells of the food do entice one appropriately, but the back up at the door often ruins the experience for me. More often than not, the line of the dozen people extends out the door into the frigid winter evening air while the overwhelmed 'hostess' checks membership cards, supervises the filling out of the appropriate forms, collects temporary membership fees, and waits to seat a customer...all of which takes about 5 to 10 minutes per couple. So if there are 3 or 4 groups ahead of you it can take 20 or 30 minutes to actually get into the club, despite the fact there are plenty of open tables or spots at the bar. The same "front door ritual" is repeated at nearly every club I've been to. Some have made accomodations to queue up folks inside (Circle Lounge, Sky Bar), some have multiple positions/hostesses to work patrons through the ritual (Oyster Bar), and some don't give a rat's ass if you come, stay, or ever come back.
Traffic: I'm preaching to the choir here when I refer to "Utah drivers". Enough said! But what about the insane traffic engineers here? Whoever passed off those turn arrows over the through lanes on 700 East (and subsequently Van Winkle) should be hung up by their thumbs. I waiting for the State to be sued when the right person comes along and makes a stink of it after an accident. Those lights absolutely do NOT meet the Federal Highway Standards for uniform traffic control devices that the State of Utah has adopted. Until that happens, I'm quite content to watch the tourists and visiting skiers do traffic acrobatics around the f'd up traffic signals.
A recent experience at my favorite Sushi restaurant made me ponder life in SLC for awhile. Granted, I haven't been there nearly as often my 2nd year in town as I was my 1st year, so the new hostess really didn't have any cause to recognize me. So when I ask for a spot for 2 at the Sushi Bar the hostess asked me "Are you going to order Sushi?". I was stunned...and almost whipped out the big city attitude. Ultimately I held it together, smiled, and said "yes". All through dinner (and part of the night) the straneness of that question kept popping into my consciousness. Why in the world did she ask that? Was it a miscue due to English not being her first language? Ultimately I had to assume that they must get more than a few folks who ask to sit at the Sushi bar for the show and who don't order Sushi....could be numerous causes for this phenomenon, but the fact remains that the restaurant probably has do deal with this on a regular basis.
The most recent experience was when I purchased a 1997 Audi A6 q last week. The previous owners stated very clearly which indy German car shop did most of their manintenance, which over a dozen work order/receipts confirmed. I groaned....the same shop had maintained my 1992 prior to my getting it. I called up the shop, knowing full well how the conversation would probably go.
Me, "Hi, this is Dave B. I just bought a 97 A6 from X who told me they had the car maintained there. I'm looking for a little history on the car, especially with respect to when you think the timing belt might need to be changed next. Can you tell me the last time you changed the belt?"
Shop owner says, "Well, I can find a record for the work I did if you give me a date."
Me, "Don't you keep a file for each customer's car?"
No
Well how do you know when it's time to do critical work on your regular customer's cars, like the timing belt we're discussing?
Sorry, I can't help you.
Back to my rant. I realize most of the indy shops here in SLC...and especially the ones who post here...have computers, and that most probably keep a profile on the cars. But this particular shop is the classic example of "old-fashioned" (to be as kind as I can) meets high-tech, and utterly fails to meet the expectations of their sophisticated clientele.
After 2 years I'm almost acclimated to these types of interactions. I join the renegade sheeple and wait in line to get into my favorite clubs, even when there's plenty of room inside. I try to appear patient when answering questions that seem out of the ordinary. I often actually smile and talk with strangers when they try to strike up a conversation out of the blue. However, I do work hard to find and support those small oases of cosmopolitanism, I cherish my international friends who come here year after year to work at the ski resorts, and I do truly enjoy the easy access to the beautiful natural places Utah has to offer....I think I'll stay for awhile more.
A few recent experiences have driven home just how unique things are here in Salt Lake City.
It's more of an attitude that I attribute to a city often described as being 20 years behind the rest of the country in sophistication, cost of living, wages, attitues, and many other qualities....not unlike many small towns around the country. But Salt Lake IS different...we've hosted the Olympics!, we're an international snow skiing destination, an internation religious tourism destination, headquarters of numerous national companies and large manufacturers.
I think this mix of small town mentality, sophisticated expectations of visitors, the influence of ultra conservative values on the local politics, and probably a few other things that don't come to mind right now make for some interesting experiences. I strive to appreciate them for what they are.
One of the first things I noticed here was what I call the "front door ritual" at the bars (errr... "private clubs for members"). The nicer clubs in most cities work to make entering their establishments a rewarding and fun experience. Architects and designers are paid lots of money to make sure it's the right temperature and color, to make sure it smells good, to make sure foot traffic flows well, and to generally make a good first impression. While that may hold true for some businesses here in SLC, the clubs seem to have their hands tied in this regard. Take, for example, trying to get into The Bayou on a normal night. If you're early enough, you can line up at the door with a dozen other folks waiting to get into the beautiful, spacious club. The smells of the food do entice one appropriately, but the back up at the door often ruins the experience for me. More often than not, the line of the dozen people extends out the door into the frigid winter evening air while the overwhelmed 'hostess' checks membership cards, supervises the filling out of the appropriate forms, collects temporary membership fees, and waits to seat a customer...all of which takes about 5 to 10 minutes per couple. So if there are 3 or 4 groups ahead of you it can take 20 or 30 minutes to actually get into the club, despite the fact there are plenty of open tables or spots at the bar. The same "front door ritual" is repeated at nearly every club I've been to. Some have made accomodations to queue up folks inside (Circle Lounge, Sky Bar), some have multiple positions/hostesses to work patrons through the ritual (Oyster Bar), and some don't give a rat's ass if you come, stay, or ever come back.
Traffic: I'm preaching to the choir here when I refer to "Utah drivers". Enough said! But what about the insane traffic engineers here? Whoever passed off those turn arrows over the through lanes on 700 East (and subsequently Van Winkle) should be hung up by their thumbs. I waiting for the State to be sued when the right person comes along and makes a stink of it after an accident. Those lights absolutely do NOT meet the Federal Highway Standards for uniform traffic control devices that the State of Utah has adopted. Until that happens, I'm quite content to watch the tourists and visiting skiers do traffic acrobatics around the f'd up traffic signals.
A recent experience at my favorite Sushi restaurant made me ponder life in SLC for awhile. Granted, I haven't been there nearly as often my 2nd year in town as I was my 1st year, so the new hostess really didn't have any cause to recognize me. So when I ask for a spot for 2 at the Sushi Bar the hostess asked me "Are you going to order Sushi?". I was stunned...and almost whipped out the big city attitude. Ultimately I held it together, smiled, and said "yes". All through dinner (and part of the night) the straneness of that question kept popping into my consciousness. Why in the world did she ask that? Was it a miscue due to English not being her first language? Ultimately I had to assume that they must get more than a few folks who ask to sit at the Sushi bar for the show and who don't order Sushi....could be numerous causes for this phenomenon, but the fact remains that the restaurant probably has do deal with this on a regular basis.
The most recent experience was when I purchased a 1997 Audi A6 q last week. The previous owners stated very clearly which indy German car shop did most of their manintenance, which over a dozen work order/receipts confirmed. I groaned....the same shop had maintained my 1992 prior to my getting it. I called up the shop, knowing full well how the conversation would probably go.
Me, "Hi, this is Dave B. I just bought a 97 A6 from X who told me they had the car maintained there. I'm looking for a little history on the car, especially with respect to when you think the timing belt might need to be changed next. Can you tell me the last time you changed the belt?"
Shop owner says, "Well, I can find a record for the work I did if you give me a date."
Me, "Don't you keep a file for each customer's car?"
No
Well how do you know when it's time to do critical work on your regular customer's cars, like the timing belt we're discussing?
Sorry, I can't help you.
Back to my rant. I realize most of the indy shops here in SLC...and especially the ones who post here...have computers, and that most probably keep a profile on the cars. But this particular shop is the classic example of "old-fashioned" (to be as kind as I can) meets high-tech, and utterly fails to meet the expectations of their sophisticated clientele.
After 2 years I'm almost acclimated to these types of interactions. I join the renegade sheeple and wait in line to get into my favorite clubs, even when there's plenty of room inside. I try to appear patient when answering questions that seem out of the ordinary. I often actually smile and talk with strangers when they try to strike up a conversation out of the blue. However, I do work hard to find and support those small oases of cosmopolitanism, I cherish my international friends who come here year after year to work at the ski resorts, and I do truly enjoy the easy access to the beautiful natural places Utah has to offer....I think I'll stay for awhile more.