Dairy-free Sausage / Potato / Kale Soup

About a year ago, one of our nieces sent me a recipe link and asked me if I could modify it to being dairy-free.  And, so I did.  And, it seemed to be a hit.  That's always a plus, doncha know.  Always.

A few days ago, I posted on Facebook about a one-woman cooking marathon day I was holding; and one of the dishes I mentioned was the Sausage / Potato / Kale soup (dairy-free).  I've since received a couple of requests for the recipe; and so I decided to share it here in Swirlings.

A few notable mentions, before I post the recipe . . .

I am a hands-on, go-with-the flow kinda cook.  I don't always follow the recipe; not even ones that I've created myself or ones that I've modified from other people's recipes.  I improvise.  I go with the flow.  Truth be known, I pretty-much do whatever I want when I'm cooking.  Baking?  That's a different story; I *usually* follow the recipe . . . well as closely as possible anyway.  Ha!

Specific to this recipe: 

• Sometimes I thinly slice the potatoes just like the directions lead; other times I usually dice or rough chop the potatoes.  Do y'all know how much time it takes to thinly-slice potatoes without a mandoline?  My goodness!
• The recipe calls for Italian Sausage.  Several months ago, I stopped using sausage (any kind) (in / with / for anything) and switched to ground pork (I then dress up the pork with sage, basil and/or other herbs).  Did y'all know that most sausages contains corn syrup?!  And - if you know me, then you know that I do not intentionally eat nor prepare food using containing corn syrup.  There ya go.
• I usually (always) use 2 pounds of meat (not just a measley 1 - 1.5 pounds).
• It's much quicker for me to use scissors and cut up the kale than it is for me to tear the kale into pieces with my hands.  Just another time saver that I like to employ.
• And just this very moment, as I was pasting the recipe into this blog post, I realized that I did not add the red pepper flakes into the soup from a few days ago.  'Tis a sadness, to be sure; I like red pepper flakes.

 

 

OK - on with the recipe:

Dairy-Free Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup
by Sharmie

Ingredients
2 bunches Kale (more, if desired)

12 whole Red Potatoes, sliced thin (peeling left on)

1 whole Onion, chopped

1-1/2 pound Italian Sausage

1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (more to taste)

2-3 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth

Fresh or Dried Oregano

Black (or white) Pepper To Taste (my preference for this recipe is white pepper)

PLUS
4-6 additional red potatoes (Quartered. Your choice as to whether to peel them or not)

2-4 additional cups low sodium chicken broth

　
Preparation InstructionsClean the kale; tear into bit-size pieces. Set it aside.

In a medium pot, boil sliced potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, pour 2 cups additional chicken stock into a blender. In an additional medium pot, boil the quartered potatoes until tender. Drain and add to blender. Set aside to cool a bit (without blending, yet).
Brown the sausage in the same manner that you would brown ground beef. Drain the fat.

Stir in red pepper flakes, oregano and 2 cups chicken broth. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Adjust seasonings as desired.

Blend together the chicken stock and quartered potatoes in the blender, increasing the speed incrementally. Add more chicken stock as necessary. The puree should be a consistency between liquid and paste; more thick than thin.

Add sliced potatoes to soup mixture.

Slowly add potato / chicken stock mixture from blender into soup mixture. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add kale to soup mixture. Simmer for about 5 minutes; then serve.

*~*~*~*~*
I hope y'all enjoy this recipe.  If you have any questions or comments, please let me know, here in Swirlings.  If you like this recipe, please share this blog post to your Facebook world.

Thanks for reading!
Be blessed,
Sharmie

*~*~*~*~*
p.s. - The above recipe was modified from a recipe on the Pioneer Woman’s website.  The original recipe calls for over 6 cups of combined whole milk, half & half and heavy cream.  In my recipe above, all 3 of those ingredients have been replaced with potatoes and chicken stock (in addition to the potatoes and chicken stock called for in the original recipe).

If you would like the original recipe that contains dairy, click HERE.

Facing Fear and Moving Forward

This is one of those blog posts that has been swirling around in my grey matter for several months now.  Sometimes a blog post inspiration will hit and I can immediately sit down and type it out right then and there (or as close to then and as close to there as possible).  Other times, a blog post will only initially show me glimpses of itself and then simmer among my thoughts for a while before it is truly ready to see the light of day.  Fiddle, just between you and me, I've had some writings simmering for a few years.  Yep.  They're simply not ready until they're ready.  There ya go.

Something else about today's blog post; and of which is very rare for me:  I still don't have the title for it.  Usually, I know the title before I even type the first word of the blog entry; today is not such a time.  Let's hope that I have a title for this little gathering of words before I need to post it; I'd hate for it to wander aimlessly through the web of world wideness without a name for itself.

*~*~*~*~*
Happily, I don't dwell in too many fears, or rather, the fears do not dwell in me.  I'm a big believer in giving fears over to Our Lord and letting His Peace reside where the fears were trying to bully their way in.  Life works better for me that way.  Did you know that the Bible is replete with passages telling us not to fear (regardless of the reason for the fear)?  Absolutely replete.   Fear not!  Do not be afraid!  Again and again, His Word commands us to not fear. 

Speaking of commands, I firmly believe that every command that Our Lord gives us has a two-fold purpose:  the first is obviously to glorify and honor Him.  The second purpose is to protect us.  Every command carries a blanket of protection for us; either physical protection, emotional protection, spiritual protection or a combination of any any or all of these types of coverings.

And yet, even knowing this, even firmly believing it down to my bones, I still have a few fears that seem to taunt me.  The thing about fears is that if we allow them to hang around, then they also become huge obstacles in our lives.

And, that's why I'm writing about two specific fears today . . . I no longer want such univited guests in my life.  So, I'm going to bring them out of the inner recesses of my thoughts and expose them - here, where anyone who wishes to read about them may.  Fears love secrecy; it's one of their most potent weapons that they wield.  Take away the secrecy and fears tend to wither and blow away.

*~*~*~*~*
Y'all may remember reading in my most previous blog post that I have had more than a few seizures while taking a shower (or soon after getting out of the shower).  In fact and without exaggeration, not only have these "shower seizures"  caused more than one serious injury to myself, it has also cost Tex and me more than a couple of thousand dollars repairing damages to the bathroom because of such stupid seizures (of course, *all* seizures are stupid in my opinion; these, especially so).  I'll elaborate if you want me to; but you'll have to specifically ask.

So, without realizing it, somewhere along the line I developed a fear of taking showers.  Most of my showers are taken while I'm the only person at home.  And, almost. every. single. time. . . . thoughts of shower seizures enter my grey matter at some point during the shower.  Sometimes I wait till Tex gets home to take my shower; but that's not really very feasible for myriad reasons; one of them being that often in the evenings, we are on a time schedule for one thing or another.  For those of y'all who are now saying to yourself, "So, take your shower first thing in the morning" - that's not really a possibility neither . . . for whatever reason, taking a shower "first thing" after I wake up is usually a guarantee of a seizure.  There ya go.

Most of the time, this goofy fear is simply a nuisance.  Yes, I really would like to be able to attend to my personal hygiene without having to think and pray myself through the process every time.  I truly don't like that seizures take up so much of my thoughts and attention.  But other times, the fear is a bit more looming.  No, I'm not huddled up cowering in a corner because of this; but still, being skittish about taking a shower can be quite intrusive . . . not to mention just a big dumb nuisance.

*~*~*~*~*
The other fear that I want to tell y'all about today deals with, of all things . . . seizures.  Yep.  Them, again.  This time, in regards to how they affect my business.

Back in July, I wrote this post about some of the after-effects of having a seizure.  It can take a few days to physically heal from a seizure; longer, if there are serious injuries.  It can then take a few more days to be able to come out of the mental funk that I find myself in post-seizure.  Remembering that what's going on is a direct result of the seizure and reminding myself and doing what I can to get past it is all well and good . . . and, I'd like to take a moment right here to say absolutely God bless my wonderful husband, for he does everything he can to help me get through the "post-seizure" stage.  I deeply love and cherish that man; for myriad upon myriad reasons.

. . . Even remembering and knowing and doing everything I can to recover as quickly as possible after a seizure, it still can take more time than I'd like and it still can temporarily bring my world to a bit of a halt.

Therein lies the fear regarding seizures and my business.  How will I be able to meet deadlines if I'm trying to recover from a seizure?  That has been pervading my thoughts for a couple of years now; and I truly believe it is one of the reasons why I have been so slow to actually fully bring my business out of hiatus.  There ya go.  I've written it and have brought that ugly, ugly fear to the light of day.  And now, I'm truly fighting to not delete what I have just written; for I don't really want y'all to know how much I have struggled with this.  I also don't want to lose credibility and I don't want to appear unprofessional.

I want y'all to think that I have it all together.  But.  Those seizures . . . those stupid seizures . . .  they interfere and muck up things.

BUT!  There are people out there being very successful in their businesses while dealing with various illnesses, disorders or diseases.  So, why not me?  Yes, why not me?!!   Most definitely!

*~*~*~*~*
I have a seizure history.  Hopefully the last seizure I had will be the last seizure I'll ever have.  That is always my hope and my prayer; especially given the recent developments during the past few months and coupled with the new information I have learned.

But these fears - about taking showers and about running my business . . . they're all about "what ifs".  I don't want to live my life based in fear of "what ifs".  I want to live my life, living it in the here and the now. 

Today, at this very moment, I am seizure-free.  In fact, as of right now, I have been seizure-free for 12 weeks and 2 days.  WooHoo!  THAT's what I want to focus on; not on the ick and yuck of "what-if"-based fears.

*~*~*~*~*
I leave you with one of my favorite "Fear not!" Scriptures:

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand
                                                       (Isaiah 41:10)


I'd love to hear from you.  Are you struggling with a certain fear in your life?  My encouragement to you is to let it go!  Get rid of that stumbling block; it has no value to you whatsoever.

Thanks for reading!
Y'all be blessed,
~Sharmie

Hot Showers and Cheese

Are you intrigued yet?  Wondering what the connection is between hot showers and cheese?  Wondering if I'm making cheesy messes while washing my hair?

Believe it or not, there is a connection between the two; well, at least for me.

OK, raise your hand if you love taking long hot showers.  Did your hand go up?  Mine did.

Now, raise your other hand (because since I haven't said to put your "first" hand down, it should still be raised) . . . raise your other hand if you love cheese.  Yep, I just raised my other hand.  BTW, do you know how challenging it is to type with both hands raised in the air?

Back to the showers (figuratively, not literally).

I am one of those people whose face is purple after getting out of the shower.  I love hot showers.  LOVE them.  After a long day, a grimy chore, a long workout, or anytime in the winter, is there anything better than staying in a steaming hot shower for 5 extra minutes?

For the past 13 years, since the seizures (boo, hiss) stopped being nocturnal and started occuring during my waking hours, most of those seizures have occurred in the early morning hours.  Retrospectively, so many of those early morning seizures have taken place after my morning shower.

Somewhat quasi-recently, probably within the past 5-6 years, I started periodically having seizures in the shower.  Yep,  actually in the shower . . . while showering.

During the past 3.5 years, the very vast majority of the seizures have happened while I was taking a shower.  The most recent one (back in July, when I "broke" my face) . . . that seizure happened very soon after getting out of the shower.

This has been quite a puzzle for me . . . why do the seizures occur during the shower?  For the longest time I thought it was a weird anomaly about me (btw, aren't *all* anomalies weird?  I'm ok with the redundancy; I hope you are as well).

I recently learned that while not the norm among people who have seizures, neither is it completely rare.  There *are* other people who experience seizures while taking a shower (or bath).

The reason? 

I'm glad you asked!

Elevated histamine levels.

Histamine levels rise not only because of allergies (which, if you're talking about plant and pollen type allergies, I'm not aware that I have any), but histamine levels can also rise due to heat.  Hot showers are a good source of heat.  There ya go.

(This also explains why I don't just dislike extremely hot temperatures, but why I also feel, well, icky, if I stay outside too long in the summertime).

So.  Those long hot showers that I loved taking?  They're a seizure trigger.  Go figure.  Because I prefer to be seizure-free and because having a seizure while taking a shower is not really the funnest activity I can think to do, I now take lukewarm showers (and I still come out looking purple, btw - that was bonus information). 

There's nothing really luxurious about taking a lukewarm shower.  It kinda takes the joy out of the whole experience.  And, now that the weather is turning a bit chilly, I imagine it's going to be interesting (and a bit, uhm, brisk) to forgo that steamy water raining down on me.  BUT.  I'd much rather take luke-warm showers and be seizure-free than throw common sense to the wind and risk a seizure because I wanted 5 minutes of a hot shower. 

*~*~*~*~*~*
But, what does that have to do with cheese? 

Absolutely nothing.

But.  There still is a connection between hot showers and cheese; at least for me.

The similarity?

Seizures.

Yep, they both are seizure triggers.  They're both also something with which I've had quite the love affair for oh so many years.  Decades, in fact.

Man, I love cheese.  I don't think I've met a cheese that I haven't absolutely over-the-moon enjoyed (except for cottage cheese).  Cheese for snacks, cheese as ingredients in cooking and baking.  Cheese, cheese, cheese.  I imagine that if I had been born in Wisconsin, I would have eventually become the state's cheese mascot.

But, alas.

Cheese, like hot showers, are known seizure triggues.  On the GARD eating program (of which I've now been following for 6 weeks and 4 days), dairy is one of the restrictions; specifically because of the casein.  Cheese is loaded with casein.  In fact, in Latin, "casein" is "caseus", which means, of all things . . . cheese.  There ya go.

But, again . . . I prefer being seizure-free.  So, if giving up one of the most perfect foods ever discovered is the price to pay, I'll gladly pay it.  Well, most of the time, it will be gladly.  I must admit to having a bit of a cheese craving for the past couple of weeks.  Oh well, this too shall pass.

*~*~*~*~*
A couple of footnotes, please.

A few well-meaning people have suggested to me that since hot showers are seizure triggers that I, instead, take baths.  I'd like to address that, if I may.

Remember, hot water is hot; regardless as to whether it is from a shower or from a tub.  Part of the wonderfulness of a bath is that the water is hot; and while there may be people out there who enjoy sitting in a tub of lukewarm water, I personally do not know of them, and I am definitely not one of them. 

Also, perhaps I can encourage you to look at it from a safety standpoint.  It's dangeous enough to have a seizure in a shower; but if someone has a seizure while sitting in a tub of water, that seems to me to be even more dangerous because the likelihood of drowing increases dramatically.

And now the footnote for cheese.
While there are cheese substitues "out there", they're truly not my cup of tea (although, no, I have never put cheese in my tea).  Being a purist, a health & nutrition researcher, an ingredient label reader and lastly, cheese snob, I would simply rather forgo cheese entirely than to partake of "fake cheeses".  There ya go.

*~*~*~*~*
Now.  I could bemoan that I no longer enjoy long hot showers or cheese in all it's goodness.  I could do that, most definitely.  But . . . Why would I want to do that?  It would not serve any good purpose; and in fact, it would get inside my head and eventually infect my heart as well (ungratefulness, bitterness, pity parties - yuck!).  Who wants to intentionally invite that kind of negativity into their lives?  Not me; that's for sure.

Instead, I choose go with "It is what it is."  I choose to roll with it and adapt.  Hopefully, most of the time, I will be rolling and adapting with a cheerful attitude.

Which brings me to something else . . . It's not a matter of "I can't take hot showers" or "I can't eat cheese".  Pretty-much I can do whatever I want.  Pretty-much you can do whatever you want. 

We all make choices; myriad choices every day.

I simply choose to not take hot showers and I choose to not eat cheese.

I cringe when I hear people say, I can't do such and such or I can't eat this or that.  Sure, you can!  Like me, you can do whatever you want.

What you and what I need to decide is what exactly is it that we want?

For instance, if someone is on a particular restrictive diet (for whatever reason), do they want to achieve the results of the diet more than they want to eat whatever specific goodie that might be prohibitive for that particular eating progam - OR - do they want to say, "I don't care about achieving results; I want to eat this, and I want to do it now."  

The same principle applies to other aspects of our lives; not just what we eat or don't eat.  Everything's a choice.

Once a person has established their priorities, it is much easier to make choices.  They are no longer bound by what they are "not allowed" to do; they are, instead, taking control of their life and making choices for their life.  There's a strength that comes from making intentional choices versus living with the mindset of restrictions.

For me, hot showers and cheese are seizure triggers (so are a few other things, if truth be known).  For me, I choose to avoid hot showers and I choose to not eat cheese - because the result I am trying to achieve (seizure-free) is much greater, much more enticing, than anything that any seizure trigger could pretend to offer me.

Thanks for reading!  Here's to making awesome choices!
Y'all be blessed,
Sharmie

A Quick Update on the MRI

Some of y'all have asked me how my appointment went on October 2nd . . . and for that, thank you so much for remembering and for y'all's care and encouragements!  I truly appreciate that.

Due to a family emergency and my going out-of-town last week, I rescheduled the appointment to October 21st.  So, in the meantime, I'm still going on the premise that no news is good news.

When I called to reschedule the appointment, I did ask that if something serious had shown up on the MRI if someone would be calling me instead of waiting for the scheduled appointment date.  It was then that I learned that, for whatever reason, the imaging place that conducted the MRI never sent the results to my doctor.  A bit disconcerting, yes, but I had other things going on at that moment that were definitely more of a priority.  The lady I spoke with said she would call the MRI place immediately and have them fax over the results. 

That was a week ago, today; and since I've not heard anything from my doctor's office, I'm still choosing to go with "no news is good news".

So!  Onward to October 21st.

In the meantime, y'all be blessed.

Thanks for reading,
Sharmie

*~*~*~*~*
And for those of y'all that are wondering what in the world I'm talking about, here's a couple of links to catch you up:

"What - Do You Have Rock in Your Head or Something?"
http://sharmieswirls.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-do-you-have-rocks-in-your-head-or.html

"Midway to MRI Results"
http://sharmieswirls.blogspot.com/2013/09/midway-to-mri-results.html


. . . and, of course, you're always welcome to browse through Swirlings' blog archive and read anything that catches your attention (listed in reverse chronological order, in the right hand margin). 

Midway to MRI Results

It was two weeks ago, today, that I had the MRI.  In approximately 2 weeks, Tex and I will learn the results.

You know? . . .
. . . For the vast majority of the time, I've been pretty peaceful and calm about the whole thing.  I know the source of such Peace and Calm.  It comes directly from Our Lord; it's HIS Peace and HIS Calm.  And thank You, Jesus, for that very precious gift.

Two weeks ago, I also decided that I was going to go on the premise that "no news is good news".  I'm guessing that if there was something of significant and immediate importance, that one of my doctor's colleagues would contact me, without waiting for my doctor to come back to work (to remind y'all, she's out of the office for the month of September; hence the reason for waiting so long to get the results of the MRI).

This particular mindset has been working well for me.  Periodically (but also infrequently), a "what if" will squirm its way into my grey matter and whisper to me, "What if there is something wrong even though no one calls you before your appointment?" 

"What ifs" generally are not very productive; at least not in scenarios such as these.  So I flit it away with a wave of my hand and then come back to focusing on the present.  I'll find out the results when I find out . . . and it will be at that time that I'll deal with the facts; whether they bring good news or whether they bring challenges.

In the meantime, please know that I very much appreciate those of y'all who have shown support and given me encouragement during these past couple of weeks!  Thank you!

*~*~*~*~*
In other (but related) news, y'all may remember that I mentioned a plan that I had put into place.  Part of that plan is following the GARD eating program.  GARD = "Glutamate-Aspartate Restricted Diet".  It also has come to stand for "Gut Absorption Recovery Diet".  It's a healing eating plan designed specifically for those of us who have seizures.  Y'all can read more about it by clicking HERE. 

Nutshelling it down, it's an eating program that restricts Soy, Corn, Casein and Gluten.  The soy was a no-brainer.  I've known for many years now that soy is a seizure trigger (additionally, it's also a neuro toxin in other ways, and it's also carcinogenic).  The corn was pretty easy as well; I'm not really a corn eater (although I did very much enjoy making my annual cast-iron skillet cornbread every time a new year rolled around). 

The casein?  Well, I've never really been a milk drinker, but boy did I love my cheeses!  And, yogurt.  Plain yogurt; not that stuff that is ladened with corn syrup in the guise of fruit.  And ice cream.  Real ice cream without all the chemicals and toxins.  And butter.  Real butter.  Real, unsalted butter.  Fortunately, butter is actually "allowed" because the casein content is so low, it's negligible. 

An interesting side note:  as some of y'all may know, goat dairy products have a much smaller casein content than that of their bovine cousins.  This means that I might still be able to occasionally indulge in cheeses; I'm still researching this (from the angle of seizure triggers).  And, one day, I'm going to make ice cream from coconut milk; I've been telling myself this for several months, so perhaps this new way of eating will be the catalyst for that.

The gluten?  Gluten is probably the most complicated aspect of this particular eating journey that I have embarked upon.  Gluten is in myriad foods - from various grains, to some nuts & seeds, to even dried beans.  Even meats contain gluten (albeit in small amounts).  That's probably been the most significant change; restricting gluten from what I eat. 

Ironically, grain-wise, I really don't eat much bread unless I make it myself (most commercially-prepared bread has soy in it in at least one form, sometimes more - along with other ingredients that I do not like to consume; i.e., corn syrup and unpronounceable chemical words).  But, pasta is a completely different story.  Tex loves pasta . . . and if I'm honest, so did I.  :)

So.  I've been following the GARD way of eating for 25 days now.  And, while I don't believe there are any GARD-specific cookbooks out on the market (yet), I have purchased a couple of cookbooks that deal with one or two aspects of GARD (even though that wasn't the focus of the books).  I ignore (or modify) the recipes that contain soy, corn, casein and/or gluten, and I focus on the recipes that are GARD-friendly.  I've also found a pretty neat blog that, for the most part, has recipes that I can use (or adapt) for this new lifestyle.  It's still a fairly new blog to me; so I'm going to give it some more time to "test it out" so-to-speak before I provide a link to it, here in "Swirlings".

Are ya wondering what I actually do eat?  Great question!  :)  Basically, I eat fresh produce (both fruits and veggies - including potatoes), meat (from a variety of creatures), rice and eggs.  Oh, and herbs and clean spices, too - I love my herbs and spices!

I consider it a huge blessing that I have 26+ years of food research and label-reading behind me.  It has made the transition to GARD pretty easy.  Before implementing GARD, I already did not eat the very vast majority of packaged foods, I avoided soy and lab-created chemicals pretty-much across the board; and for the past 2.5 decades, I have truly loved to cook real and healthy food, from scratch.

*~*~*~*~*
So, there you have it; an update of sorts, while I count down to October 2nd.  Again, my thanks to those of y'all who have checked up on me and offered their encouragements.  I love my friends!

And remember . . .
If you pray, why worry?
If you worry, why pray?

Thanks for reading!  Y'all be blessed,
Sharmie

p.s.  Anyone else find it amusing that I'm following an eating plan designed by a veterinarian?  I personally find it pricelss in a very weird and wonderful way!  :)

Driving School 101

Most people (hopefully) know that they are supposed to stop at a stop sign.

And.  When the stop sign is at the exit lane of a school, that is even more significant.

Oh.  Also, most people know that the roads surrounding schools have a slower speed limit; especially so when traveling on school property.

As I was walking Lizzee this morning, I was crossing the entrance / exit lanes to a school.  I was already half-way across when a SUV-driving mom came zooooooming down the exit lane . . . when she reached the stop sign, she looked at me, looked at the stop sign and then breezed on through, without even stopping.  Lizzee and I were just mere feet from DoodleHead Mom. 

I was not impressed.

I truly consider it Our Lord's Protection that we had not walked further than we had when this woman came careening down the exit lane.

I'm pretty sure I would not appreciate being hit by a car just because someone is in a hurry and believes that she is exempt from obeying traffic laws . . . but please don't make matters worse and hit my dog!  Additionally, given the amount of kids that walk to this school, it would be horrendous if one of them was hit by a car simply because the driver was in too big of a hurry and couldn't be bothered with stopping at a stop sign.

(Tomorrow, I'm going to have my phone's camera ready to snap photos; and if I encounter her and she's driving the same way she drove today, I'm going to take a picture of her license plate so I can share it with our local police.  Perhaps they can encourage her to drive more responsibly).

Consider this a PEA.  Hey; whaddya know?!  Two PEAs in a row; one today and one yesterday. 
I must be feeling bossy.  No, wait.  Not bossy . . . I'm tapping into my inner educator.  Yep, that's it.
After all, it's a PEA, not a PBA.  Ha!

*~*~*~*~*
And, of course, today being 9/11, I'm sure most people's thoughts are on the events that took place 12 years ago.  May Our Lord bless and comfort all of the families who lost loved ones during those horrible events of that day.

Thanks for reading y'all!
Be safe,
Sharmie

Observations on Customer Service

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm sure I'll be writing more about seizures and other applicable neurological topics, but today's post is taking a different path.

*~*~*~*~*
Tex and I went to a Home and Garden Show over the weekend.   For the vast majority of our time, we really enjoyed ourselves.  We got ideas for future projects, chatted with different people and gave our legs some walking exercise.

There were two very glaring exceptions.  Both of these involved our stopping at booths to look at products.  In the first instance, the man approached us and asked if we wanted to buy such and such.  After Tex responded that we were just looking, the man immediately and angrily walked away.  Then, less that 3 feet from me, he told his co-worker - in words loud enough for me to hear, "Man, this day sucks.  Nobody's buying anything."

Hmmm . . .

The next exception to our wonderous stroll through the marketplace was somewhat similar, yet different at the same time.  I had stopped to look at a product that Tex and I have discussed purchasing sometime down the road - you know when it fits our budget priorities a bit better.  The man working the booth came up to me and asked if I was interested in making a purchase.  My response was, "Well, not today," and before I could even draw breath again to finish my sentence, the representative huffed and then walked away from me.  The rest of my sentence, "but this is something that we want to purchase in the future, and I have some questions to ask you" was left to swirl silently inside my thinker. 

At that point, both of these booths that we had stopped at were among the very first ones, and I was beginning to think that the entire show was going to be filled with rude and impatient sales people.  Fortunately (and for the most part), that proved to not be the case.

But.

Let's examine both of the above examples, shall we?  You agree?  So do I!  Great minds - you and me.  :)

I'm sure that Tex and I were not the only people strolling around Market Hall last weekend who had not planned on making major purchases while attending the Home and Garden Show.  Many people go to these types of events to gain information and to tuck business cards and brochures away for when they're ready to buy whatever it is that caught their attention at the show. 

A good salesman will know this.  Sometimes the sale doesn't happen immediately.  Getting angry about it, walking away and then complaining to a co-worker within ear shot of potential customers is probably not the best way to make that customer their customer.

Tagging onto that, dismissing such a potential customer when they are in the middle of a sentence and thus shutting out any opportunity for the customer to ask questions about a product that they are genuinely interested in doesn't seem to be such an award-winning idea, neither. 

*~*~*~*~*
On the other hand, we had lovely conversations with the gregarious lady at Angie's List (who took a photo of Tex and me while I was wearing her very funky glasses and who also introduced me to Alegria shoes because I fell in love with her "Hippie Chic" Palomas), the friendly man at Cutco, the very entertaining man at VitaMix (who nicely listened to me ask about purchasing a dry container replacement and then cleverly incorporated my question into a public sales pitch), the great guys selling the trampoline, the man who let me ride his demo C.A.T. Scooter (oh man - fun - especially, when standing up!), the man who wittily intrigued us via remote control (as we were walking by) with his roof that resembles (and functions as) flat horizontal blinds, the very informative guys who were showcasing the slide-out cabinets, the nice flooring guy and last but not least, the very busy-yet-cheerful lady at the Sleep Number booth.

The majority of the 2+ hours that we spent at the Home & Garden Show was dispersed among the businesses I've mentioned above.  Yet, out of all that time and all those booths, we spent a whopping $11 (in addition to the admission tickets).  For the ultra curious, the $11 was for the sign-up fee for Angie's List. 

All of the other booths mentioned above?  They didn't make one red cent off of Tex and me this past weekend.  But.  They were so friendly and engaging and they made sure they answered our questions thoroughly and accurately.  That's the type of people that we do business with.  That's the type of people that we'll remember when it comes time to make future purchases.

*~*~*~*~*
One more example; simply because I've encountered this scenario more than once and I know of at least one other person, offline, as well.

A few weeks ago, Tex and I went to a birthday party that we had been invited to attend.  The party was held at one of the local steak restaurants.  The salmon listed on the menu intrigued me; and when it came my time to order, I asked the waitress if the salmon was marinated in soy (as many of y'all know, I don't do soy; it's a seizure trigger . . . and for those who yearn to learn, it's also a toxin pretty-much across the board).  When the waitress responded that the salmon was marinated in soy, I simply said, "Oh, never mind; I don't want that," and started to go on and order my "second choice".  Instead of accepting that I would know what I wanted (and did not want) to order, the waitress said, "Oh, but it's only a litte bit.  Trust me, you're going to love the salmon."  Without boring you with more of who said what, I'll tell you that I tried 2 more times to gently let her know that I didn't want the salmon, but she wouldn't listen to me and she kept trying to push the salmon.  Maybe it's her favorite dish at that restaurant.  Maybe her long-lost cousin from her mother's stepbrother's daughter's grandfather's side of the family was the salmon culinarian for that particular eating house.  Who knows?  But man, she was pushing that fish dish!  I finally had to very firmly tell her that I was not going to order the salmon.

I love wait staff and I always try to interact with them and let them know that I'm a friendly sort.  

I'd also like to take this moment, however, to suggest that if someone doesn't want to order a particular dish, then that should be that - without argument or efforts of persuasion; especially if the reason is because of a specific ingredient.  It's a food allergy world we live in today; and some allergies are much more dangerous than others.  One of my family members has a very serious milk allergy and even touching milk products (including) butter can sometimes cause a reaction severe enough to require a trip to the hospital.  Yet, time after time, when she has inquired about whether a particular menu item contained milk (and after telling them she has a milk allergy), the response she often gets is "Well, it's only a little bit."  Well, in her case, "only a little bit" could prove to be quite harmful.

Additionally.  Even if the reson for not ordering something is not allergy-related, it's really none of the server's business to question or to argue the decision.  There ya go.

*~*~*~*~*
I don't want to end this post on a negative note . . . and in reality, the intent of this entire post is not meant to be negative, but rather educational.  I haven't done a PEA (Public Education Announcement) in a while; let's consider this particular post to be one of those. 

My first thought, in bringing this blog post back to a positive outlook, was to list all of the above-mentioned friendly businesses' representatives and their contact information.  That may or may not be a good idea seeing as how I haven't asked their permissons to do such.  But!  I don't think there's any harm in at least re-listing the business themselves.  I encourage y'all to patronize these companies . . .

. . . Except, I wouldn't recommend that you play with your Cutco knives while riding on your C.A.T. Scooter; and remember, reserve the jumping for your SpringFree trampoline; not your Sleep Number bed.  There ya go.  :)

- Angie's List ("We're relentless when it comes to providing trusted reviews.")
- Cutco ("The World's Finest Cutlery)
- Equinox Louvered Roof ("Take Control of your Outdoor Living Space")
- Furniture "N" Floors, Inc.
- RBB Scooters (C.A.T. / Compact Adult Tricycles)
- ShelfGenie ("Designed to Transform")
- Sleep Number ("The only bed that knows you.")
- SpringFree Trampoline ("The World's Safest Trampoline")
- VitaMix ("Superior Nutrition in Every Blend")


Thanks for reading; happy shopping!
Y'all be blessed,
Sharmie



Please note that the parenthetical quotes listed next to each business were taken directly from the printed business cards or brochures supplied to us.  There.  I trust that I have sufficiently and legally covered my, uhm, posterior in case anyone disagrees with any of the quoted phrases.