Red Handed Jill
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2010
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I was struck by Morticia's comment (in my subject line here) and JB's referral to the guest who can't "get a grip." (Forgive me if I have misquoted). It reminded me of something that I experienced years ago, when innkeeping wasn't even a glimmer in my mind.
At the time, I was running a studio where I provided private lessons. I'd been doing this for years, in a variety of settings, and was not a newbie in any sense of the word. But this particular year, I acquired a student who, well, defied all my efforts to get him "with the program." When running a studio about that, it's not just about students learning - it's about being ready to begin and end on schedule, it's about not treading on time other people have paid for, and, it's about getting my "own" things seen to during time *no one* has paid for. This particular student never seemed to get ideas like showing up on time, finishing on time, PAYING on time...
So, I typed up all my policies and refined them specifically (to him) where necessary. I then had a few trusted individuals read them to make sure the "fairness" was just from my perspective - I really didn't want to alienate parents of students who were very considerate of others. One of the people I had check was the mother of two of my younger students, who was also an attorney. As she was reading the pamphlet, she raised her eyebrows, looked at me over the paper, and asked (with a tone), "You have people doing these things?"
Since that time, I've thought of it differently. Sure, that one guest/customer causes us to write or alter our policies...but it's all to protect the experiences of all the others.
At the time, I was running a studio where I provided private lessons. I'd been doing this for years, in a variety of settings, and was not a newbie in any sense of the word. But this particular year, I acquired a student who, well, defied all my efforts to get him "with the program." When running a studio about that, it's not just about students learning - it's about being ready to begin and end on schedule, it's about not treading on time other people have paid for, and, it's about getting my "own" things seen to during time *no one* has paid for. This particular student never seemed to get ideas like showing up on time, finishing on time, PAYING on time...
So, I typed up all my policies and refined them specifically (to him) where necessary. I then had a few trusted individuals read them to make sure the "fairness" was just from my perspective - I really didn't want to alienate parents of students who were very considerate of others. One of the people I had check was the mother of two of my younger students, who was also an attorney. As she was reading the pamphlet, she raised her eyebrows, looked at me over the paper, and asked (with a tone), "You have people doing these things?"
Since that time, I've thought of it differently. Sure, that one guest/customer causes us to write or alter our policies...but it's all to protect the experiences of all the others.