I taught a class on Information Design earlier this week after work. It went okay – I could have been better prepared – but I think some of the students got something out of it.

The interesting bit was what happened before class. I had the email that the instructor sent me printed out – with the time and location of the class. I got there a few minutes early and went in to talk to the teacher.

Except he wasn’t there – instead, it was one of my colleagues in IT. She explained that the professor had been getting the room wrong all semester and walked me around the building to the correct room. Even more interesting was that I hadn’t talked to her in a few months – we’re in different departments – but I had emailed her earlier that day with a question. And then just happened to run into her that evening for class.

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I also went and got my oil changed this past week. It took longer than I expected, but I had plenty of paper with me. And my phone. When it was done, they went over some service notes with me and I was on my way.

I got an email from the customer service manager thanking me for stopping in. Then they said I would be getting a survey from the manufacturer. She said it was important to give all 10’s as anything less was unacceptable – and she wanted me to contact her if anything about the service was less than excellent.

This is not the first time I’ve been “guided” towards answering a survey by one level that is reported to another level. “If you can’t give us all 10’s – we want to make it right so you can”

Which is bullshit.

A great big steaming pile of bullshit.

Perfection is an illusion. Life is messy.

And all 10’s? Well…

1. Took longer than expected.
2. The service report had no context for the information. A 10 mm note on the brake pads doesn’t mean anything unless you already know what it is supposed to be.
3. The waiting room was noisy and the TV was on HLN. I mean, really?
4. The un-requested, but free, car wash left spots on my windows.
5. The handling and vibration of the car felt worryingly different after the tire rotation – a heads up would have been nice.

None of this is really important or terrible. But, if you’re going to tell me it has to be Perfect ™, then it wasn’t.

So, what do I do? Really judge the service against a standard that can’t exist? Or just put in all 10’s to make the manufacturer happy – and keep the service folks out of trouble? They did do a great job – but Perfect? Really Perfect? errr…no.

Instead of some 10 point scale with meaningless numbers – meaningless if 10 is the only acceptable choice – I would suggest a simple picto-gram.

Happy Face or Sad Face.

If the service was good and you’d come back and tell all your friends and rename your first-born – then indicate a Happy Face. If the car catches fire or parts fall off – Sad Face.

I’m going to respond to the service manager and recommend that she pass it along up the chain to a policy maker.

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I had a dream last night that the power kept going on and off with a bright flashing light. The next thing I saw was darkness, and then me being wheeled out of my house on a gurney.

Apparently, I was dead.

They took my temp to determine time of death – I think it was around 80 degrees – and the coroner decided to start on the autopsy right there in my yard. She climbed up on the table with me and got her scalpel ready. Before she made the first cut, I sat up and gasped. She jumped off the table and everyone stepped back in shock.

And then I woke up. Or came back – I dunno. They say you can’t die in your dreams – you always wake up before you “hit the ground”.

Pretty freaky – but still not as bad as that physics class dream. I was soooo out of my league on that one.

I’ve got a huge headache this morning. Apparently, being dead is rough.