Customer service means just that: servicing the customer. I worked my first part-time job while still in high school in the mid 70s at a fast food restaurant. The rule was very simple: when a customer is at the counter, all personal conversations end until the customer has been served and has left the area. Now, when I go to almost any and every establishment that provides “customer service,” not only am I subjected to the personal conversations of the employees, but, at times, they will even turn away from you to make eye contact with the coworker, leaving you with your hand extended with your money, waiting for them to turn around to take your money. This happens at all the fast food joints, Walmart, Publix, Kroger, Hobby Lobby, Best Buy, etc. I am fed up with this, but, I hesitate to complain on the employee with times being as they are for jobs. And, I actually blame the management staff, as they are responsible for training the employees in proper business etiquette. So, I had to vent here to get this off my chest.

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If Peachtree City wants to erase their current budget shortfall, they should station Peachtree City police cars in school zones. Every day I witness drivers completely ignoring the speed limit during the periods when slower speeds are applied. The city could make a fortune is a short period of time.

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To the person in the burgundy Honda Civic (license tag AQM, etc.) dropping a child off at Oak Grove Elementary Thursday morning: You are a real jerk for not waiting your turn like everyone else in line. When you pulled out of the drop-off line to speed around the children getting out of their vehicles, you endangered everyone around you, especially on a dark, rainy morning. Then, to make matters worse, you pulled out onto Crosstown Road and proceeded to speed through the school zone. The rules are for everyone, and they are for the safety of our children, not to slow you down when you are in a hurry. We love our children. You should, too.

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Just a thought: For those of you complaining about how your neighborhood entrances are being neglected due to Peachtree City budget cuts, donate your own time or do it with a neighbor. We all need to pitch in where we normally wouldn’t have to during these days of uncertainty. Imagine what can be done if we each take a little of our own time and help.

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How many ways can you ugly up Peachtree City? Get an eyeful of this new eyesore on, of all places, Peachtree Parkway. Just south of J.C. Booth Middle School in the northbound lane is a piece of cement and flagstone junk. Yes, junk, that the City Council and mayor (who would have guessed?) signed off on. Oh, and they did it with NO visual rendering of the aesthetics of what this would look like when finished, according to Mark Casper, stormwater manager. It’s bad enough having to look at it going northbound, but get an eyeful of it going southbound, where you can see the back of this cement ugliness. Let’s just hear all the squawking coming out of our city offices that justifies this due to “regulations we have no control over.” This isn’t some wooded cart path wall that is only visible from your golf cart or a walk in the woods. This is our signature parkway, and it has just been uglied up, for what? Let’s have a dedication day, complete with all those involved, photographed in front of it, and name it the “Logsdon Legacy Wall.” Make sure credit is given to all appropriate parties.

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Well, Timberlake has earned even a worse reputation for extorting money from the neighbors in Highgrove for access to the cart path. It’s unfortunate the new TL board members over the past few years have made this a priority to take advantage of the neighbors and friends. Say what you want, the Highgrovers are good friends. They aren’t the reason for what you believe and to extort them and not other cart drivers calls for your resignations immediately.

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Rare insight into government’s true thoughts: When Commissioner Eric Maxwell made his snappy retort to Mrs. Smithfield, he gave a rare glimpse in to the true feelings of the commission: public be damned, we are going to benefit our own investments and those of our friends. We are building this West Fayetteville Bypass to Nowhere. With long-time buddy, fellow investor commissioner and apparent potted plant Herb Frady standing by, Maxwell’s suggestion to Mrs. Smithfield after the road divides her house from her water well that she should watch her step crossing the road with her bucket is rare. Seldom are politicians that honest, that crass and that insulting. Maxwell and his buddies will show how to git ‘er done.

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Our Fayette commissioners are just more in a long line of commissioners who have become mesmerized by the warm glow of acceptance given them by the Atlanta Regional Commission. Long considered a stepping stone to regional politics by county commissioners, the ARC offers an allure to local politicos that causes them to lose their focus on the folks back home. The Fayetteville West Bypass Road to Nowhere is a good example. There are no traffic jams. There is no need for this road. And yet we will spend millions to build it and millions more over the years to maintain it. Why does ARC want it? Ultimately, MARTA is coming. Why else would the city of Fayetteville have bus stops on Ga. Highway 54 just west of the Old Courthouse? The pathetic thing is holding all these hearings where the commissioners bob their heads like dolls on a dashboard, knowing that they consider this a done deal. Their response: “Grab a bucket, lady, and look both ways.” The political speak that “this has been in the planning process for 20 years” translates to “We have been working this quiet deal for too long for too many people and it has been decided.” So much for the sunshine whitewash.

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Coming out of Fayette Piedmont Hospital tonight after spending time with my 88-year-old ill mother, I get to my car to find an advertisement stuck under my windshield wipers. To my shock and horror, it is an advertisement for the “grand opening” of The Casket Outlet. It is located in Newnan and I want to tell the owners of this business that this is the lowest form of advertising I have ever seen. It is hard enough when a loved one falls ill and then to find something like this was more than unsettling. Surely they can find some other place to pin their advertisements other than the parking lot of a hospital. Shame on them.

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Thank you, Coweta-Fayette EMC. You are to be commended for remaining steadfast as our front line of defense against those habitual offenders who migrate from Atlanta to steal from all EMC members in good standing and who pay their bills on time. Maybe they can jig their electric meters or not pay their bills in Atlanta and get away with it for months, but not in Fayette County. Many times over the past three years, I’ve witnessed the same typical behavior. A family of five moves into a house they can’t afford. Fancy, new cars. All five have cell phones and iPods. Garbage piles up on the street for months and is not removed. Sometimes it is placed in neighbors’ paper boxes. In less than four months, EMC disconnects power from the top of the transformer on the utility pole. Later the same evening at dusk, several dubious-looking characters gather around the utility pole trying to figure out a way to climb it and reconnect the power. They opt to decline. They are not that bold. This type of mentality combined with irresponsibility and fraud on a national scale is the reason our economy is in the tank. Thank you, EMC leadership. You are the first ones we can count on to keep us safe. When every other authority in the county fails to act over a period of months, you step up to the plate and take charge. EMC: hoora!

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I would like to send out a great big thank you to the driver who hit my mailbox on Robinson Road last weekend. Whether it was because I wrote to Free Speech last week and it was in last Wednesday’s paper or just because it was the right thing to do, it is very much appreciated that you stopped by my house last Thursday to explain what happened and then paid me for a new mailbox, plus some. As my oldest son said, there are still some good people out there and, in the words of my youngest son, we forgive you. Thanks again for your kindness and generosity.

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As a child growing up in the mountains of east Tennessee, I picked up lots of wise sayings from the old folks that are just as true today as they were 60 years ago. I would like to share one of these with one of the more prolific contributors to The Citizen, Bill Webster of Peachtee City: “Better to remain quiet and let people think you are a fool than to open your mouth and confirm their thoughts.” Do I hear an amen?

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Thank you to the gentleman who made a lasting impression on a grandmom and granddaughter at Chick-fil-A on a recent Friday morning. As the two were ordering, this gentleman walked up and presented a $20 bill and advised them to have breakfast on him. It is refreshing to know there are still caring and decent individuals among us. My guess is this is not the first time this individual has displayed an act of kindness. Bless him and all others like him.

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To Governor Sonny Perdue and your good old boys: If your party gets booted out of the governor’s mansion, Senate and House next election, you can thank a teacher. We all know times are tough right now, but for all your rhetoric about how you value educators, you have really given them the shaft with your support for teacher furloughs, increased insurance costs, and not honoring the state’s commitment to National Board Certified teachers. Shame on you. And, just in case you plan on continuing your gift cards to teachers, you’ll get mine back. Guess you might need the money for your fishing project.

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The President has fired the head of General Motors Corp. He is looking for a permanent replacement so he set down some minimum requirements for the job. Perhaps you are qualified or know some one who is: Must have had experience in running at least a mom and pop store; must have been responsible for creating at least five jobs; must have had experience dealing with other businesses, business person to business person; must not ever have been involved with shady quid pro quo deals; must have impeccable credentials and no tax cheat problems; must have never been surrounded by people that do not like America; must believe in the capitalist system; must have had experience dealing with union contracts. Needing to fill the job ASAP, the President looked to folks he already knew: Speaker of the House Pelosi — not qualified; Senate Majority Leader Reid — not qualified; Senator Dodd — not qualified; Congressman Frank — not qualified; Senator Shummer — not qualified; Congressman Rangle — not qualified; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — not qualified; Vice President what’s his name — not qualified; First lady Michelle Obama — not qualified, Frustrated, the President decide HE must run General Motors for the good of the country, but in horror discovers he too is not qualified. The president realizes he needs to get this job filled ASAP so he changes the qualifications to “must have driven a car before.”