Pilot's and Facebook

I was scrolling through my news feed on Facebook this past weekend and came across a status one of my friends had posted that caught my attention. The status read as follows .....

"I got a call today from my chief pilot. Someone sent him an email with some of my Facebook/Instagram pics that said, "Is this safe, for your pilots to be taking photos while flying?"

Apparently my friend, who is a pilot, had posted a few pictures he had taken from inside the cockpit of the airplane. Someone saw these pictures and was not happy that a pilot had taken pictures from the cockpit while in flight. What do you guys think? Is it a big deal for a pilot to snap a picture of the gorgeous view above the clouds?

Cigarette Ads

Recently it was brought to my attention that new cigarette ads were going to be implemented. The ads were designed specifically for the individual cigarette packages. These images are going to include black lungs, smokers with a hole in the esophagus and more disabilities smoking can cause. Although I agree with the ads and bringing awareness to the dangers of smoking, I do not however, feel its right to have to market these images directly on cigarette packing. Does McDonald's have to put images on its packing of the harm their products can cause a persons body? Do alcohol companies have to show damaged livers on their packaging? The answer is a resounding NO. What do you think?

Venting through Facebook

Currently I bartend at a restaurant on the outskirts of Atlanta. We are a high volume establishment with a good amount of our customers being regulars. This past week, on one of my days off, a customer ordered a "Top-Shelf" margarita. He informed the server that the margarita did not taste like a "Top-Shelf" margarita and nor did it taste like the one from his last visit. After consulting with the bartender on staff, the server informed the customer it was in-deed a "Top-Shelf". The customer left highly dissatisfied and took to our Facebook page to share his displeasure and the fact that he would never be back. The owner happened to see the post, replied back instantly and called the restaurant from home to have the server written up. It is interesting how social media is being used by customers and when used effectively can be a positive means of communication. It gave the manager a chance to earn back the loyalty of that customer.

Restaurant Payment

As a server/bartender at a high volume restaurant I've realized how time consuming and annoying it can be to close out a customer's tab. Often times having to run and grab someone's change or run their card can take a few minutes. There's even some instances where people get frustrated having to wait for their server to come and take payment for the bill. It would be more convienent and efficient if restaurants, especially higher quality and volume ones, installed credit card/ cash payment methods directly at the table. If customers could divide up their own checks, pay the bill when they are ready and not have to wait for the server this would benefit both parties and allow for a faster turnover rate.

Funeral Home's & Social Media

This past weekend I was up in NC and spent some time talking to a family friend who owns a funeral home. He was telling me how some funeral homes are already planning to offer services that manage people's twitter accounts after death. In the near future twitter users will be able to set up their accounts to post messages after death. This could be a lucrative new service offering. Being able to manage people's accounts after death and being entrusted to securely do so could come at a high cost. Do you think this is a good move for funeral homes to make?

"Doctor" Endorsed Commericals

As I was laying in bed watching tv I came across a commerical for a "new" acne treatment. During the commerical a short clip was integrated with a doctor stating their degree and endorsing the product. The production on this commercial seemed low budget and the doctor seemed to only care about the pay check resulting from the endorsement. With so many new products being introduced with endorsement's how can we seperate genuinely backed products as opposed to those that arent?

Phone's and Dinner

I currently work as a server/bartender and a common trend I've noticed is that people cannot put their phone's down throughout an entire meal/night out. People are constantly checking emails, taking pictures, tweeting, etc. There are numerous times I go to take an order and people seriously cannot put their phone down long enough make eye contact. Can a text really be that important? The growing trend of phones complementing dinner could work towards restaurant's advantage. There is money to be made in a phone app that helps improve a customer's experience from seating, to ordering, to even paying the bill. What do you think?