Quote:
Originally Posted by outlaw
One person's truthful observation is another person's "complaining". As in your statement regarding being "stuck" in the pro shop for 10 to 12 hours. Many people would feel lucky to be working in the golf industry, being paid to be at a beautiful country club atmosphere all day, meeting new and interesting people, mostly in a good mood because they're at the golf course, not stuck in their cubicle office environment. Successful businesses understand that the customer can make or break them. Ergo "the customer is always right" cliche. You won't find too many successful businesses if the owner thinks customer dissatisfaction is just picky "complaining". Golf swing fundamentals is a combination of very precise movements and synchronization of those movements. The difficulty of doing this well is what attracts many to the game. Take the top player in most country clubs, a person that has that swing and ball striking consistency you wish you had, and you will likely find a person that is still practicing more than most, still working on improving their swing mechanics, etc.; never totally satisfied with their level of performance. The people that approach (not achieve) this perfection, many times expect this level of dedication from everyone else. It's not so much that they are complaining. They are just responding to the employee obligatory greeting "how was your round today". Or maybe they think that the course depends on their input to improve the course conditions, as in "what did the manager say when you told him about your poor service" or "did you call the course superintendent to tell them about the poor pin placements".
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Most people get in the golf business because they love the game and they love to play. Unfortunately for most of us we find that we're not able to play very much because we spend so much time helping others enjoy their time at the the club.
You're right, I've heard many people talking about how they'd feel lucky to be able to spend every day at a beautiful country club. Believe me, it's a lot different when you are there to work than when you are there to play.
But I will admit that it was much better then working in an office. My work life varied tremendously every day. I did meet interesting people and it was very rewarding to know that I helped some of those people play better and enjoy the game more. But, it's not a bed of roses and working in an environment where every is on their recreation time and you are working can be very frustrating. This is especially so when people come in from playing golf and whine about minor problems. I often want to say, "Why don't you stay here and unpack, price and put these sweaters out while I go out and play."
I'd ask everyone who came in after playing how their day went and how they played. Most were very happy but there were always those few that felt that they had to complain about everything. Some people are just not happy no matter what. And many of these complainers would complain about the most ridiculous things. But, I'd patiently listened to all of it promising that I'd look into it.