Customer service killed Michael Jackson.
I'm reminded of a pbs special on Elvis Presley.
One of his crew was talking about how they couldn't find him
before one performance. They looked everywhere and finally
found him in the bathroom, on his knees, praying that he
could give his audience a good performance. Elvis died from
medication.
Then there was Hank Williams. He too, was taking
pain medication. I can't help but think the pressure to
perform, to be as good as they can be, was assisted with the
medication. It probably becomes a 'crutch'. Then sooner or
later, out of control, Hank died in the back seat, on the
way to their next performance from an overdose,
accidentally.
Now we lost Michael Jackson at to young an age.
He was just getting ready for a World tour performance, with
the added pressure of a come back. Few of us ever
experience that much pressure so it's hard to put it into
context, but his doctor was convicted for writing the
prescription.
These great performers were struggling to put on a
good performance, an excellent performance their fans
expected. They were striving to meet audience expectations.
They wanted to be the best they could be one more time, with
the help of drugs. Whose not to say that Hendrix and
Jopplin also found their drug use helped them perform. The
pressure from their public is partly, if not totally, to
blame. They were trying to meet customer expectations, with
the perfect performance their fans wanted. The ultimate in
customer service.
Most of us have worked in the service industry and
taken the grunt of the public's expectations. The absurdity
of unreasonalbe demands, people expect, because it is their
right, when they spend their money, to be treated like
royalty. Employers capitalize on this relationship. The
only cost is the dignity and self respect of the employees.
It's about money and we all know there are more important
things than money.
If you've ever performed you know the audience will jeer
at imperfections and if they've been charged money, the
entertainer better 'put out' an entertaining performance.
It might be likened to customer service at its most intense.
So you see, the fans killed Elvis. They didn't mean to,
intentionally, but we're caught up in this unreasonable
system that ultimately destroys the best and well
intentioned.
