If you think that guy's an ass now, see how he acts when confronted with a batch of serious motorcycle folks and tries to "buddy up".

Or trying to in spite of reality.
In his head...he's a STUD!
sad

He's not a bad looking guy. But, the insecurity gives him a funky smell.

And sorry but, it also seems that CR makes up reasons to see you

I run into these guys at the grocery store on occasion, I think they are lonely.

Dude!

You know - the ones used by Miller Lite, Axe Body Spray, Mountain Dew, 1800 Tequila, Dr. Pepper, Slim Jims, you name it.

You have my complete sympathies!

Wow. What you have to put up with to stay in business.

Um.......forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is a "crotch rocket."? Some sort of motorcycle?

.
.
.
They're the Japanese (usually) motorcycles that are very, very QUICK but high and annoyingly whiny.
.
.
.
The riders lean forward with their feet back instead of sitting basically uprignt.
.
.
.

Sounds like just the ticket for a man in the middle of a mid-life crisis!

Hope the pain is subsiding.

....than drive one of those overpriced, underpowered yuppie-cycles.....

98% of of all Harley Davidson motorcycles ever built are still on the road today... The remaining 2% made it back home.......

My son rides a Harley as do most of my other "biker" friends. A very small handful of them are yuppies. Harley riders have a trait that I completely identify with. Their bikes are their "partners". I feel the same way about every car I've ever owned. Yeah...I talk to my cars. So? That doesn't make me crazy. I also name them along with my iMac. (Current car, "Elvis" - Costello, not that other guy, and my iMac is "Albert".)

The Honda riders I've known (admittedly, very few) don't have that same bond. I won't get into a pissing match with you over the positives/negatives of each.

.....I stick by my statement....out of the half a million "bikers" that pass through daytona during bike week and biketoberfest, I'd guess 20% are honest to gawd bikers...the other 80% are doctors, lawyers and weekenders dressed to the max in $300 Harley approved leather boots, chaps, shirts....aka posers....they are the ones who take a short cut through a neighborhood testing their str8 pipes at 3am, power drink and f@ck it up for everyone else....chrome don't get you home....just makes a big puddle underneath your sportster....

I beg to differ about Honda riders....we ride the best built bikes in the world at half the cost of a hardley, and most of us ride our bikes daily because we know they won't fail as a daily driver....we don't just polish them with a diaper untill the weekend arrives....the old ad about meeting the nicest people on hondas is as true today as 40 years ago... When I give a hardley "rider" the two fingers down sign....keep both wheels on the road....a good luck sign....most riders look at me like I'm crazy....the Harley BIKERS however, know what I'm saying to them....that how I tell the difference

I actually know a couple of rocket jockies that are totally normal, very cool people. One of them actually rides with a bunch of my other Harley rider friends, the other used to race professionally.

The majority of rocket riders I've met have a completely different personality than Harley riders. They're in a hurry, they're more high-strung. Most are "young" kids (young to me is now under 30...ugh) that still have that feeling of immortality. Some, but not a majority, would love to own a Harley when they "get old".

Most rice burner riders have a completely different personality than Harley riders.

It's a little demoralizing, to say the least. I make less than a third of what I made in Chicago and people in Arizona treat me like a McD's employee.

How's the knee? You're probably sick of people asking, huh? A little better each day?

Um, gross? I hadn't thought of his penis and now I am.

Next time the guy comes in, I'll be picturing him naked.

Was it his attitude (which I could understand) or his bike/jacket/helmet that pissed you off?

You seem massively focused on the fact that he was a donorcycle pilot. Is what it is, but I fail to see what I should learn from this.

I worked in the service department of a large motorcycle store. This description fits many of the customers attributes.
One had to have the latest big road model Gold Wing all gussied up with a custom American flag motif. Big blustery leather jacket and chaps dude.
Another had to have as much chrome gewgaws imaginable.
Or the 'advertised' fastest.
Or modify the engine to be faster than that.
Totally different mindset than average.
Probably republican.
"The world owes me, dammit!"

Don't let'm get you down.
They're worth lots of giggles around the water cooler.

penis size, indeed.

He was an attractive man. His attitude and desperate grasp on youth makes him unappealing and a little freakish to women. Men shouldn't feel like they have to look and act like they're in their 20s. Add to that his rude and condescending behavior made him not just pathetic, but an asshole.

(I'm 32.)

I can't help it if I'm blessed with prolonged youth. When I try to act or look my age, people look at me funny...and nobody ever believes me when I tell them I'm 32.

Edit: It's not genetic, but might be cultural. My biological father is a hard-looking 61 (looks 75), my stepfather is 55 and looks like he's 30.

as the next.

You seem to see CUSTOMERS in a very subjective way. Who gives a FUCK how he gets to your place of business? Every customer you described in your story comes with a stereotypical description.

You fax things? Ever heard of scanning then sending PDF files to an email address? You have a "very noisy" printer? What is it, a dot matrix?

The next "$5 dollar job" you get might be the one that sends your company multi-national. If you don't treat EVERY customer like they might be THAT one... you just might have MISSED the chance to take your business to the next level.

I'm betting you see a lot of one-time customers... given the attitude you have. Yeah sure you might have LOTS of return customers... but just imagine who your attitude might have turned away...?

If customers make you want to puke, you might want to find a new job. Or business.

"Every customer you described in your story comes with a stereotypical description."
--Show me, please. I described the first customer as my "best" customer. I guess that could be stereotyping for all "best" customers, but in my case, it isn't.

Customer two: "Another customer walks in..."
Damn, I can see the stereotyping here. Most of my customers do "walk in". I'm so ashamed.

Customer three: "This one, a mid-40ish very attractive customer"
This may seem harsh to you, but this is far from stereotyping. Most customers are NOT mid-40ish and attractive.

Sugar, I've been a graphic artist for 30 years. I'm well aware of this new-fangled technology called "scanning and emailing" and I totally grasp the concept of a 'PDF'. Sadly, the majority of my customers are still tied firmly to that old fax system. Believe it or not, many don't even have email addresses and are terrified that the internets will steal their information. Yes, the town I live in really is that bad. I do have some brave customers that have embraced technology and INSIST that I scan and email their valuable communications. Mr. Crotch Rocket isn't one of those.

That whole "$5 job will send our company multi-national". Pumpkin, the huge majority of people that bring me $5 jobs get treated like family. Even the "new" ones. After 30 years in this business, I have yet to see a $5 job bring in anything more than maybe a $20 job. Especially in this town.

No, I don't see a lot of one-time customers. Most are thrilled that they have found another option than that "multi-national" printer down the street that can't seem to spell nor complete on time. The majority are also quite surprised that the $15 they spend on my business card design provides them with artwork that they can be proud of. You see, I actually care about my customers business. It infuriates me when a customer walks in with crap artwork and the excuse is, "Well, I only paid $15 for it, so I guess you get what you pay for." BULLSHIT! I can spend 15 minutes on a business card layout and make it look professional. It takes little effort, but is apparently more effort than other local "graphic artists" care to expend. I like seeing people succeed. Not just because it makes our company look good, but because it makes them fucking happy. I love the huge majority of my customers.

I've tried to find a new career, but sadly...I'm good at what I do. Mr. Crotch Rocket is a condescending, arrogant tool. My point of this thread wasn't to disrespect my customers. Rather, it was to point out to the men that they don't need to dress like they just walked out of a bad B movie, ride around on a bike that will get them laughed out of every biker bar in AZ, or try to impress women with their hairy (grey) chest and gold chains. I get plenty of men older than him that don't give a damn what they look like or what they drive and they're damned sexy. Why? Because they're friendly, funny, easy-going and treat people around them (including OTHER customers) with respect. They don't walk into a place of business and try to take it over for their own personal office space. They don't try to "teach" me how to send a fucking fax and drill me on the procedure because they figure I'm too stupid to know how to use my own damned fax machine.

My attitude may turn people away, but those are people I won't miss. I would imagine your attitude does the same. But, you obviously just love every single person on this earth and treat every single one of them equally.

...I'm deleting my response.

Har de har, that is so funny!

About a year ago, I had a very similar situation. Only the woman customer wasn't quite as lucky. I had 4 or 5 people to help and she was stuck waiting with this guy that would NOT leave her alone. She was being way too polite, although aloof. She kept looking at me with this terrified, "help me" look in her eyes. I did my best to get everyone else out of the way so I could get her out of there. The guy was being obnoxious. He was going on and on about how she was dressed. The "sister" mode kicked in and I wanted to leap over the counter and drag him out by his balls. I think the other customers (all men) would have helped. They looked just as disgusted as I did.

I can visualize Ms. Deer standing there cornered, enduring classic favorites like "What's your sign?" and "If I told you that you had a nice body would you hold it against me?" "Help me look", ha ha ha!

It would be a shame if Ms. Deer started going to your graphic designer competition, in order to avoid Mr. Crotch Rocket. I wonder if you and Ms. Deer have discussed Mr. CR while nobody else is there. I'll bet that would be good for a laugh or two.

Thanks for my favorite thread this week.

Lasher

I feel horrible. There are many, many other threads that are far more enlightening than my rant of plastic people. But, thank you.

Also, see the post below from RadiationTherapy. He/She made a correction to my original post that puts a very important perspective on this whole thread.

And I needed a dose or two this week.

...glad I could offer some laughter!

I hope it was just "one of those weeks" and won't carry into next week. It sucks when you have that shadow hanging over your entire weekend. Been there way too many times.

The older I get, the harsher the mirror becomes. I just take my husband's word for it, now.

men, women, gay, straight, masculine, feminine, and even asexual - who does this. We are all carefully managing our images. Even those who pretend they don't.

I've known all of the above that take their personalities to the limits in order to impress. And, to be perfectly honest, I know women that go much, much further.

So, thank you for the correction and reminder. EVERYONE needs to be happy with who they are and realize that they possess a trait that someone will find attractive. Physical beauty is genetic and we have no control over it. No amount of makeup, leather, gold chains or expensive toys will make you beautiful. A crooked, toothless smile can be the most beautiful thing I can see in a day and change my attitude.

I do have to wonder about the "asexual" people though. I could only imagine Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory, and yes, he's sexy, too. Smart is always sexy.

but that was not true and never is. We all have carefully managed images, even if the image is "I don't care about my image". As Robert Anton Wilson reminds us via Hagbard Celine in the Illuminatus Trilogy: "The No-Ego ego trip is the biggest ego trip of them all!"

Just Sayin.

And, I just sold my "Thriller" jacket and matching mini skirt.

besides the cell phone issue.

Am I missing something? A customer is a customer.