What Is the Destination?
Today I woke just before the sun came up and headed to a small town in Michigan where there is a repair shop that does great work on my 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser. It’s about 80 minutes from my home on Chicago’s North Side and this post is being written while traveling aboard the legendary South Shore Line, which rumbles along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
On the drive out, I passed through the (formerly) industrial south side of Chicago with its heaving brick buildings, the steel factories of Gary, and finally the heavily wooded stretch through the Indiana Dunes National lakeshore and southwestern Michigan, which were aglow with the last vestiges of Midwestern fall. I love this drive any time of year. It offers almost every kind of scenery imaginable from cityscape, to post-apocalyptic, to almost primeval forest, each beautiful and profound in its one-of-a-kind way. Another bit of luck is a charming gourmet market along the way that does a very nice job brewing and serving our coffee. I had a cup and exhaled a bit.
But really, 80 miles to get my truck fixed? There are service shops in Chicago, right? Well it comes down to a few things. The guys that work on my truck love what they do, which is repairing and bringing vintage vehicles to life. At any given time you will see a wide range of older models there: 60’s era (and older) Ferraris, Jaguars, and Austin Healys (my dad once had one of these lovely money-pits), MG’s, Triumphs, Aston Martins, Porsches (I got a ride to the train station in a 928 and when did they stop making those?), Datsuns, Volvos, Saabs and yes, I have even seen the short-lived De Lorean and the perplexing pre-SUV La Forza.
So is it just because these guys love what they do? No, it’s much more. They are always kind and thorough and never talk down to me (even though I admittedly am among the very mechanically challenged) or anybody that I have ever seen there, regardless of what vehicle they are bringing in or whether they are a man or a woman. When is the last time you experienced that? They always call with progress reports whether the news is bad or (as often) good. They always seem more than happy to pick you up or deliver you to the train station. I always ask how business is going and the reply is always the same: “Great. We’re just glad people are willing to wait for the kind of work we do.”
So ultimately what is it? Why do people like me come so far out of their way to get their cars looked after? The answer is it is rare to find consummate pros in a world of the rude, the apathetic, the arrogant, and the condescending know-it-all. I think we may have a lot to learn from these folks in our world of coffee. Present company included. Anybody listening?
I’d like to have a shop like that to take my ‘85 Celica GT-S to.
Good points about the professionalism and arrogance.
It’s something I think I’ve been subconsciously working on (though progress is probably quite slow), and I see a healthy movement towards such a direction as the industry and its members continues to grow and mature.
Now, to speed things up a bit.
That is a really great narrative to relate to coffee. I think a lot of people are trying to fit a frame around the unknown territory that we are embarking on (3rd wave, etc.), and the Specialty Auto Repair industry is an unexpected archetype for a possible path forward.
To take it one step further, it may not only be good but necessary to move towards this. The sustainability of our industry is going to REQUIRE that we make ourselves a place & product that people seek out – because they not only enjoy it, they also trust it; it’s consistency.
Interesting what you say about service. I think our perceived need for customer education often exceeds our need to give the customer what they want – good product and good service. Those that wish to be educated will seek you out I guess.
This may sound like a page out of ATLAS SHRUGGED, but the reasons are countless why you would do such things. Quality is quality through and through. Not only in craft, but also in business, and any aspect of life. Just like coffee, the automobile industry was compromised to sell quantity decades ago. People always ask me why I have such a nice wallet as I never have more money in that wallet than what it cost. Well it was a gift, but my response is usually that I will never have to buy another wallet- and I can have it reupholstered, stitched, and primed anytime I want- that is good business.
We must take pride in our jobs, and what we produce. After all, consumerism begins with ourselves. My own mother says it’s just coffee, but as she had a cap from our shop just the other day- the eyes opened. The world is becoming less and less familiar with process and quality. People are becoming very satisfied sitting at a cash register pushing buttons and then heading home to watch a tv, or whatever one may do. Community is dissolving, the well of discovery is being covered in apathy- we are forgetting where we came from.
The bright spot though is the notion of quality over efficiency- never forget John Henry. People have a higher tendency to act like people when treated like people, not a machine.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, hope you make it to the NYC soon.
I’m sure that run is beautiful, but you must try the drop from Lake Placid up north all the way down to midtown Manhattan. It’s a solid 7 hour clip, but at the right time, Monet couldn’t capture the color.
I also have a tale of two cities as I’m living/working in Chicago & LA. I have a great suggestion for your Silverlake location which I frequent. I was also a daily customer on Division from May thru October. I would love to email you my suggestion for additional business in LA. Thanks & congrats on opening hte coolest coffee shop in LA. We needed it.