Quizno's

[Bob Thompson]

Well Bob, I was an expert on kids until I had my own, but that doesn't mean I still don't have an opinion.

I did do a lot of work with teenage and younger boys over the years. It took me a while to figure out the obvious, and that is simply this. The boys with a father present in the home generally do pretty well. Those that don't, well, don't.

I rolled double sixes when I came into this world, and can only hope to be as good a Dad to my kids as mine was to me.

It is easy to lose patience with kids these days, particularly when you encounter them in sub shops or auto parts stores. We are told they have so much more than we did, but at the same time wonder why they don't know anything. But really, are electronic toys and free day care a substitute for a Dad?

I'd give this kid some credit for at least trying to hold a job, when so many don't even bother to do that. It may be that he would do better if he got some extra training from his employer, but then again, it is probably too late.

Wish I knew how to fix this problem, but I don't.

I've always said the best job I ever had was being a Dad. When I see my boys with their kids it is gratifying to observe how involved whey are with their kids.

[Bob Thompson]

I didn't put forth the notion that they can't help it. I think they CAN help it.

But it's high time that my generation start taking responsibility for the attention-deficit world we live in. We created the video games. We bought them. We gave them to the kids and now we want to complain that something went wrong with the kids. We bought the cell phones, came up with texting, and tweeting and wonder why the kids can't carry a conversation beyond OMG or LOL.

Ultimately, the kids need to take responsibility for their own lives, regardless of the start we gave them. But a better start wouldn't hurt.

The biggest problem with our generation was our parents generation. They lived through the depression, dustbowl and a world war. As a consequence they were quite circumspect about showering material goods on us. In our misplaced resentment many of us did the opposite. But we had help. Saturday morning cartoons interspersed with noisy garish ads for G.I. Joe, Barbie, Daisy air rifles and the like. Madison avenue has a lot to answer for as well. And they continue to bombard our grandkids with crap they just have to have if they are going to have any self worth.

I have taken my oldest boy to task because his youngest daughter has her own I-phone and I-pad. Left to her own devices (no pun intended) she would be on one or the other all bloody day. She spent a month hear recently and I weaned her off the electronic nipple. I gave her one hour of Tablet time and very little phone or text time. Instead we had her plant a real vegetable garden, we took her to places she should see. And she learned to live in the world as a result. She may have back slid a bit since she left, but not much; and she didn't want to leave.

[Bob Thompson]

Our 2 Quizno's have closed in the last month. The "OPEN" sign is On, but locked up & stools are still on the tables.
We get a new restaurant here seems like every 72hrs... And if the new one survives more than 2-3 months, then that means an existing restaurant will go out of business.
Natural Selection.

Concerning our youth..... we're in trouble, Dude.

Bucky

In speaking to others I have drawn the inference that the culture of Quizno's is not terribly customer service oriented.

It's funny you should use the word "Dude" my experience at the sandwich shop reminded me of the following.
Some years ago I wrote a riff on the word "Dude" . I pressed the notion that the way surfers use the word "Dude" is inversely equivalent to the idea that while the Inuit may be said to have a hundred words for snow. That is to say that like Mandarin, the tone and inflection of a word changes the meaning of that word.
I was accused of copying the whole thing from Carlin.
I will concede that it may have seemed Carlinesque, but was an entirely original work. The comic I had written it for knew Carlins work forward and back. Although he agreed that it was original he said it sounded too much like Carlin for him to perform.
I got a chance to talk to Mr. Carlin years later. He liked it but he said he could see how it might seem derivative. A few years after that I heard a pre Mork Robin Williams doing a version of it at the Improv .

[NNICKB]

The Tommy's of this world are at least partly responsible for their own indolence and sense of entitlement.

My parents aren't responsible for my character, but they enhanced and nurtured it and allowed me become a person in my own right. Granted some children need a bit more proctoring than others."

I did a lot of work with the Boy Scouts in years past and, like is often the case in politics, there are two divergent schools of thought. One is that in dealing with boys of unfortunate background, the organization needs to adjust its standards to accommodate them. The other is that standards are non-negotiable, and that everyone is expected to meet them regardless of their background. I am of the latter camp.

This is not to say there is no room for individual understanding or flexibility. But as any product of parochial school will tell you, mercy is not the same as tolerance, nor should kindness be mistaken for weakness.

Statistically, the boys from functional families tend to do much better. But a few of the others do whip themselves into shape, and when that happens, it is always very gratifying. Especially for the boy.

There really is no other way. If you lower standards, your best kids always leave, and you end up running a day care center.

[NNICKB]

I have taken my oldest boy to task because his youngest daughter has her own I-phone and I-pad. Left to her own devices (no pun intended) she would be on one or the other all bloody day. She spent a month hear recently and I weaned her off the electronic nipple. I gave her one hour of Tablet time and very little phone or text time. Instead we had her plant a real vegetable garden, we took her to places she should see. And she learned to live in the world as a result. She may have back slid a bit since she left, but not much; and she didn't want to leave.

We try to keep our kids away from that stuff, but it is not easy. One of the neighbor kids came over to the house with a Game Boy or some such thing, and my wife, bless her heart, reacted like he was some sort of drug pusher.

It is not enough to tell kids they can't have these things. Time moves much slower for them than for us, and their minds and hearts are never idle. You need to find something else to fill the void...like the vegetable garden. You also need to introduce them to the concept that work can be fun...but not always. I try and give my boys short tasks like unloading firewood out of the truck. It starts out as fun, then they get tired of it, and I always insist that they keep going until the job is finished. They will grumble, of course, but after it is done they will boast about it to anyone who will listen.

I also encourage them to work with me in the shop, which, at present, really slows me down. They are still young, but are growing really fast! Our Dodge is no more than a pile of parts, and while they definitely have some interest in it, it remains to be seen whether we can transform it back into a living, breathing thing with all of its systems in perfect order.

Ultimately I want them to pursue their own dreams, which may not necessarily be the same as mine.