Last Friday, I was reminded of why I like Festival Foods.  C wanted an Independence Day treat for the kids so she was going to buy “cake pops” for them, until she remembered that my neice eats gluten free.  So, I suggested we get her a patriotic themed crispy rice treat.  Well, they didn’t have any, but I had a feeling that Festival Foods would go to great lengths for us, so we talked to the nice young lady at the bakery department.

Me: “Could we get a rice crispy treat decorated like the cake pops?”

FF: “Sure, do you have one already?”

Me: “No, we were hoping you would have one back there.”

FF: “Hold on one second…[she checks]…we have them back in the deli.  Just go grab one and bring it back here.”

I walked back to the deli and asked the nice lady to point me to the rice crispy treats and she did, but the box contained way more than what I needed, so I asked whether we couldn’t just buy one or two.  The answer was, “Yes!”  So she opened the box, I asked for a red one, she repackaged it, weighed it, and priced it ($0.24).  I took it back to the bakery and talked to a cake decorator this time.

Me: “I got my rice crispy and I was just talking to someone about getting it decorated.  Could we get this decorated with the red, white, and blue stars like the cake pops?”

FF: “Sure, do you want the white or milk chocolate?”

Me: “Milk chocolate.”

FF: “Hold on…[goes back to find the stuff]”

I watched the guy pulling together the stuff to do the decorating and I started to think I was making to much trouble.

Me: “You don’t have to make it exactly like the cake pops; really, whatever you can do is fine.”

FF: “No, it’s no problem, it’ll just be another minute.”

A minute later the man came back with a red rice crispy treat, covered in milk chocolate, and sprinkled with red, white, and blue stars — just exactly like the cake pops. Later that day, I gave it to my niece, and she was delighted.

Here is the point — I interacted with four different team members at Festival Foods on July 3rd, and each time, the thing I was asking for was not trivial.  They had to think about what I was asking for and expend some effort to get it, yet in each case the answer was, without hesitation, a confident “Yes!”  This doesn’t happen by accident.  They are doing something right at that place.

Festival Foods, keep up the good work!

You know it’s a good day when your e-mail doesn’t work, so you go to the IT support page, log in, and see “500 Error: Access Denied.”

Why carry a pocketknife? Reason No. 76: If your daughter asks you to set her wrist watch, you will need to poke that tiny indented button.

I know there are more than a few men today, finishing up some last-minute Christmas shopping, and asking questions like, “What do I give to that precious four-year-old daughter or niece who is just really into death, but already has everything?”  Here is your answer, and you are welcome!

B shot his first whitetail last weekend.   It was about 9:00 on Saturday morning and he saw them first.  He waited till the second deer walked into the open and took the animal with one shot.  Great job Rocket!

One of my basketball players wore this t-shirt to practice last week.  I laughed to myself and wondered whether he knew what his t-shirt really said.

When your son harvests his first buck, it’s a good day.

You know it’s a good day when you are holding short of runway 9 and landing traffic is “Fortress One Seven November.”  Most folks residing at Oshkosh don’t take a second glance when they see this magnificent machine, but today I got to wait while she lumbered down final and landed 150 feet in front of me — a glorious anachronism that few will take the time to appreciate.