Ray Colucci

IIt started with children. “Who was it that spilled soda on the couch and didn’t say a word?” Or as the young adults: “Who used my car last, and left the gas tank empty?”

So it goes to the running of a drycleaning plant.

It seems every business has one and some plants have several. It’s not that they are the proverbial liars or just that they have convenient memories. But when asked “Who left the coffee pot on over the weekend?” out comes a chorus of denials. It got so that we shortened the name to the

mystery person to “Notme” or “Wazzent Me!”

Sometimes it takes a little detective work. As in “Who was the last one to do that job?” or “Who agreed that he would take care of it?”

Most of the time these involve minor or petty chores, but sometimes they are major, as in blowing down the boiler and leaving the valve open, so at the next start up, we have a boiler with no water in it and we start wondering why it’s taking so long for the steam to come up — plus a flooded basement.

There’s always a very legitimate excuse, like “I got a phone call just when I was closing up,” or “A late customer came in and… without a ticket and not sure if he brought it here, or at our competitors and… I didn’t have a chance to clean up. If I did, I would have seen it.”

So it goes. The exhaust fan, radio, light in the supply room, back window left open, computer left on, or it’s the vacuum on over the holiday weekend.

The secret is at the last minute, just as you about to put the key in the door or before you set the alarm, to listen to the “sound of silence.” That’s when you have to ask, “Where is that strange noise coming from?”

You make an announcement: “Who left the electric steam iron on?” and you hear the loud chorus of “Notme” and “Wazzent Me.”

I would love to be a fly on the wall and literally hear the denials, “Weren’t you the last one in the supply room?” Or “I didn’t make the last coffee, I’m on next week, and don’t I always put the donuts away? Someone is always doing that! It wazzent me. Now it looks like the mice had a feast!”

Thank our lucky stars that there is a “Me” around, who remembers to catch that final inspector’s job of replacing a missing button, or returns a lost earring, or remembers a name or a promise made.

But even they have their “Senior Moments.” For instance, they talk about the distant “Hereafter.” They enter the office or a room and forget what they are doing there or what they are looking for, then announce out loud “What am I hereafter?” Maybe it’s a convenient memory lapse.

But we have to start appreciating those people who somehow do most things right, most of the time, and not some of the people, some of the time. Bravo, for those who are conscientious!

Just look where we could or would be, always cleaning up the mess left by that always innocent “Wazzent Me!”

Ray Colucci, a consultant to the fabric care industry, has revised and made available three timely pamphlets: “Up Front Is Where It Counts” for counter training; “Pressed for Perfection” for finishing techniques; and the popular “Route to Success” for complete route training. The pamphlets are $20 each or all three for $50. Immediate delivery with all postage paid is promised for requests sent to R. Colucci, 410 Warren Ave., Mamaroneck, NY 10543.