Adventures in Customer Service!

There is no difficult customer, only a few you haven't convinced of what's in their best interest!
Ok, so....no.  We aren't the Beverly Wilsher, or a high falootin boutique.  Heck, we aren't even the local dime store.
From time to time it may seems a tad bit unnerving coming into the shop and be greeted by... no one.  Well at least at first, sorry no greeters waiting at the door leaning on a cart for your shopping convenience, but you will get a "how ya' doin?" from the bowels of the Dungeon post haste.  But what we do have to offer will get ya one better.
Had a rather proper middle age couple come in to visit our greasy little corner of veloism today.  As we separate our shop (if not in content, at least in spirit) from our show room, we work behind a mirrored sliding glass door.  We can see when folks come in,  but at time we may not be looking up, our elbows deep in the greasy mass of some twisted metal works, and there will a brief pause before you hear a voice ring out.  Such was the case here.  Had my head down fumbling with a tricky cable pass through on the belly of a Fuji (pic below) (mind you my eyes are not what they once were) and determined to get the stubborn cable threaded through I failed to realize they were apparently in the shop at the counter for a few minutes.  Eventually they cleared their collective throats and i was startled back to this realm.  I stammered my apologies and offered my assistance.  Now you can always tell when folks are putting on their best face but still rather annoyed.  They were looking for transportation for their grandson while he visited, but the air of being inconvenienced was thick.
Apologies none the less.
But it got me to thinking.  Unlike many establishments, we are of a once dying but slowly resurgent breed of stores.  The owner operated kind.  No, when you come to visit it's less a experience in shopping, but more akin to walking into your neighbors garage to ask to borrow a shovel, or wrench and you end up shooting the breeze while his head and hands are in the rusty innards of some old jalopy he's working on.  Your buying a bike from the guy that built it, you call on the phone your getting the guy who can answer your questions (or one of his kids who'll get him on the line), you drop a ride off for service your leaving it with the guy who's gonna fix it.
So yea, I may have to tell ya ta hang on, or you may even have to get my attention, but the service will be nothing if not personal.
Couldn't imagine it any better then that.
ANYWAY!
Manage to get out four rides today, two pic's below the other two are kiddos  rides, forgot to take pics.  Sorry.  Sweet lightweight fuji 12 speed road bike, full re-paint and rebuild and a Tunturi custom chop bars, single speed commuter.
OK.  It's late and I REALLY need to take advantage of Mia's sleepy time and pass out.
Night!