Lollipops

[rowyn]

My branch of Toddler Bank has, for as long as I've been here, kept lollipops in wicker baskets at the teller windows and customer service desks. They're just a little goodie for any customer who wants one. I never paid much attention to them, myself: they were plain Dum-dum lollipops and I didn't much care for them.

A few weeks ago, we cleared out our entire stock: word from on high was to get rid of them: a customer had complained.

What kind of customer, I wondered, would complain about free lollipops?

I just found out.

Someone was insulted by the name of the lollipop brand.

My first thought: So ... ummm ... you identify with the label "Dum-dum", sir?

Sigh.

On the bright side, we now have Tootsie Pops! I like Tootsie Pops a lot better than Dum-dums anyway.

But we all know it's just a matter of time before someone is offended by the word "Tootsie".

Comments

All I can say is ...

[detroitfather.livejournal.com]

Good thing it wasn't Charms "Blow Pops"!

Re: All I can say is ...

[rowyn]

You should see the list of innuendos Lady Anne put together. O.o

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

I've long said that if you gave away free vanilla ice cream, there would be someone complaining that it wasn't chocolate.

[rowyn]

But ....

why wouldn't you give away chocolate ice cream instead? :)

Ben & Jerry's used to (I don't know if they still do) hold a "free ice cream cone" day once a year. They didn't especially advertise it, but if you happened to come into one of their parlors, they'd give you a free single-scoop ice cream cone, any flavor.

One year, a friend and I went to get our free ice cream cones. My friend decided what he really wanted was a sundae, though. So he bought a sundae at the regular price, and didn't get the free ice cream.

But I'll note that he did *not* complain that they weren't giving away free sundaes. :)

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Noooo! Not the LOLLIPOPS!

Why, during a recent session for a corporation that shall remain anonymous, there was much lamenting that banks no longer give free lollipops to kids. (Why, I remember fondly always getting a root beer flavored lollipop. On the plus side, I don't care for lollipops anymore - or any other hard candy - so it's not like I miss them greatly. I'm just too impatient! ;) )

[rowyn]

Well, my bank still hands them out. Tell 'em they're just banking with the wrong company! :)

[lady-anne.livejournal.com]

Better tell Corporate - Folks may think that Dustin Hoffman is endorsing your bank. Or, maybe you're catering to cross-dressers.

Or - put out an assortment - don't forget the "SweetTarts". Upscale location with black depositors - make it "Oreos".

What a pity one person's complaint made it all the way to the top. I think they should just give out generic "Suckers".;)

"Free" banking? - make that "All Day Suckers".

If you don't have a location in CA I'm probably not a customer - if I were - I'd ask them where the DumDums went - they were such a warm reminder of (someone I used to know).

Ah - such is life. Get your giggles where you can - in the meantime - Be good - The Lady, Anne

What I want to know is ...

[rowyn]

... was Level_head a bad influence on you, or were you a bad influence on him? :)

Re: What I want to know is ...

[lady-anne.livejournal.com]

I think we recognized that we were kindred spirits.
=====
It's likely we've always been the way we are. He's un-corruptable and I'm un-teachable - so I doubt that we influenced each other.

Words are much like swords - with a point at each end. Maybe that's what led to the phrase "Curses, foiled again".

Thinking of you - Be good - The Lady, Anne

Re: What I want to know is ...

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see you and Level Head found each other to be good to. :)

Lollipops: I'm afraid I'm inclined to agree with Shockwave. To mix a metaphor: There will always be the people who look a gift horse in the mouth, and find the glass half empty.

I guess the truth of the matter is that you need to realize that you can't please everyone, so you have to do what you can to please yourself and try to take as many with you as you can. If they see you're enjoying yourself following your own path, they'll be far more likely to enjoy following that path.

In the case of giving out candy, I'm heartened to see that they didn't give up the whole idea as a bad thing, but instead pressed forward on a new tack.

My bank gives out mints, and while I don't care for mint, I'd never think of complaining that my personal desires aren't fulfilled for free.

I'd much rather have chocolate. But, of course, "Free
Chocolate!!" signs would probably lead to a chocoholic
mob of biblical proprotions. ;)

Scott (Boldy mixing metaphors where no man has mixed metaphors before!) Kellogg

Free chocolate!

[rowyn]

My boss used to keep a bowl of candy on her desk, just for employees (she has a back office and doesn't normally see customers). Some years, for Christmas or her birthday, I would give her "the gift that keeps on giving" -- twenty dollars' or so of bulk candy. I always got the kinds I liked: Reese's minatures, Hershey's Kisses, that sort of thing.

The chocolates never lasted anywhere *near* as long as the hard candies she stocked the rest of the year. That's why she normally kept mints and other hard candies. Being less loved is sometimes a *good* thing. :)

Re: What I want to know is ...

[rowyn]

Hmm. I see LJ never did post the reply I tried to do to this yesterday. Now, what had I written ...?

Ah:

You've got to foil those curses, though, 'cause otherwise they might get all moldy or grow bacteria or something.

Then it'd be "curses, spoiled again."

[dour.livejournal.com]

Pardon, but would you happen to be the Rowen who frequented Yiffnet, Back In The Day?

[rowyn]

Nope, not I. I'm Rowan on FurryMUCK, though. :)