Okay, I laughed my head off when I first saw this email, then the severity of it hit me. But hello, what makes people think it is alright to do what they do? I am not sure what I would expect Neiman Marcus to do if it happened to me, maybe grovel in the mud for hiring such bad staff who make mistakes? Okay, I did had to apologize and pay for my staff’s mistakes but the staff thought I was unreasonable for asking her why such a mistake occurred. I was “branded”  difficult to work with! Neiman Marcus is a better boss…

But this isn’t about me or Neiman Marcus, I am talking about people who have the temerity sometimes to act outrageous when surely they should take some responsibility for their own ignorance. A simple enough mistake, “two fifty” could mean two hundred fifty dollars or two dollars fifty cents…to a simple waitress (no malice intended on her part I am sure), she is saying it as she always have. Have we never said something and mean something else unintentionally?

Anyway, why would someone assume they can buy a recipe from a famous chain store for two dollars fifty cents? It would usually cost thousands or millions  if they sell at all. But it could happen, why not maybe it was a Halloween special, so no fault there.

But over  a simple misunderstanding to take it this far and deliberately damage the reputation of the store also does not say a lot for this person. It also show this person as perhaps rather vindictive and small minded. Instead of admitting she might have a part to play for instance, her own  mistake for not clarifying, she has decided that vengeance would serve her better.

It is people who cause war and hatreds spurned worldwide because instead of being rational and weigh the severity of the situation, they just go ahead and   blindly, unthinkingly react. By forwarding this recipe, what does it really say about you and what does it really say about the woman and what about Neiman Marcus?

My two cents worth: Get Out of the victim rut…you may think you sound like a martyr but at some point the shoe has gone to the other foot…The “victim” has become the “victimizer”!

Story Below extracted from an email

.This is a true story.

“Please forward when you finish reading!

A little background:

Neiman-Marcus, if you don’t know already, is a very expensive boutique
Shop (they sell a typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00)

My daughter and I had just finished lunch at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in
Dallas,USABecause both of us are such biscuit lovers, we decided to
Try the ‘Neiman-Marcus cookie’. It was so excellent that I asked if they
Would give me the recipe. The waitress said with a small frown, ‘I’m
Afraid not, but you can buy the recipe.’

I asked how much, and she responded; ‘Only two fifty – it’s a great
Deal

I agreed to that, and told her to add it to my bill.

Thirty days later, I got my Visa statement, and the Neiman-Marcus charge
Was $285. I looked at it again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95
For two sandwiches and about $20 for a scarf. At the bottom of the
Statement, it said, ‘Cookie Recipe – $250.00′. That was outrageous!

I called Neiman’s Accounting Department and told them the waitress had
Said it was ‘two fifty’, which clearly does not mean ‘two hundred and
Fifty dollars’ by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase.
Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because
According to them; ‘What the waitress told you is not our problem. You
Have already seen the recipe. We absolutely will not refund your money.

I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes
Which govern fraud in the state ofTexas.. I threatened to report them to
The Better Business Bureau and The Texas Attorney General’s office. I
Was basically told: Do what you want. Don’t bother thinking of how you
Can get even, and don’t bother trying to get any of your money back’

I said, OK, you’ve got my $250, and now I’m going to have $250 worth of
Fun. I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in
The world with an e-mail account gets a $250 cookie recipe from
Neiman-Marcus for free. She replied, ‘I wish you wouldn’t do that.’ I
Said, ‘Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you RIPPED
ME OFF!’ and slammed down the phone.

So here it is! Please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of.
I paid $250 for this, and I don’t want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make
Another penny from this recipe!

RECIPE HAS BEEN DELETED-emmagem.com

PLEASE KEEP THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN
E-MAIL ADDRESS!

This is not a joke-it’s a true story.”

TO FORWARD OR NOT TO FORWARD-LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

pix: from the extracted email