Memories Of A Time Gone By…
If you read our newsletter, and I hope you do… You know that this is our 30th Anniversary year at this location and that I’ve asked those of you who have been with us for awhile to share your “Schneider’s Automotive” stories with us.
Thirty years is a long time and as a family, we – and, particularly, my father – were (and, probably still are…) nothing if not “colorful.” My thought was, there is a good chance there are some really “tasty” stories out there and that some of our ‘newer’ clients might enjoy if some of our ‘older’ clients were willing to share them.
You never know how a request like that is going to work out. Lots of people have both the memories and the stories to share, but find themselves reluctant. Nevertheless, I thought I would ask.
I’m at the shop and in my office. I just looked up at the clock… It’s approximately seven:fifty and I’ve been here since a few minutes after six.
If you want to know what I was doing here, pop over to captaincarfix.blogspot.com. It’s all there.
I was just finishing up the entry for that blog – which has a slightly different focus, and consequently, a slightly different flavor – when Suzie Lanergan appeared at the counter. Suzie was in for ‘normal’ service, but couldn’t leave until she shared her “Schneider’s Automotive” story with me: and now, I’d like to share it with you.
Suzie has been coming in since she was in college – she would probably, or will probably, kill me for sharing this because that was a few weeks ago – but, it goes to the heart of what I was asking for. And right now, at this particular moment, there is no way to express just how it made me feel.
Her earliest memories of this place go back to a time when my mother’s office was actually the waiting area and people were supposed to enter through the door that hasn’t opened in decades: the original design – which, of course, didn’t work. Regardless, Suzie remembers coming in, waiting in the office for her car to be done: doing schoolwork, talking to me, Mom or Dad, and then heading off.
When we talk about ‘old’ clients, you have to understand that Suzie’s family is among our ‘original‘ clients: the clients who started with us when we first opened – when I first opened, the76 station on Tapo Street and Cochran – and, that was the year before we opened here.
So, Suzie’s memories go back thirty-one years!
What she was able to express that warmed my heart perhaps more than anything else, was how she felt and still feels coming in after all these years: welcome, respected, recognized and appreciated. I’d say, “like part of the family,” but we all know that we can take family for granted at times.
You can’t do that with clients. At least, not for long.
It isn’t hard treating Suzie like she’s special… She is. In fact, Suzie is wonderful! (And, was trying to save the whales long before saving the whales was as popular as it is today – Just look at her license plate and you’ll see!).
That was Suzie’s memory… She shared it with me and now I’ve shared it with you.
If you have a Schneider’s story, please let me know. I’d love to hear it and if I’d love to hear it, I’m almost willing to bet someone else would love to hear it as well!
Captain Carfix