Where does the lack of good customer service end? Better question: what caused this increase in poor service to those that feel the need to invest their time, and in most cases, money in you and your product?

With growing social communities, the likes of Facebook and Twitter (to name a few), it seems as though operations do not really care that word of mouth has now turned into the quicker and larger word or mouth 2.0ish beast where within a matter of minutes your bad experience can reach thousands just by a single status update or tweet.

As I'm writing this blog, I am sitting in a hospital room where I watch my father in-laws health monitors beep and light up. A few hours prior, he was begging to speak to a priest before having emergency heart surgery after suffering from a major heart attack at his home. Unable to speak to a man of cloth before going under, what could have been the last thoughts of a man in cardiac arrest was that he could not speak his last rites. A short time later the priest came, only to express to the family in waiting that it was his day off and he was leaving to enjoy it. Customer Service, even in religion, has been placed on the back burner.

So, where did we go wrong? With the fast paced world that we live in now, has the need for expedited service trumped the need to be treated like humans? Try talking to a customer service associate to discuss an important matter about your home utilities. It's near impossible anymore to talk to a human customer service agent. Try enjoying a nice meal and being served like royalty at your favorite restaurant. I guarantee the waiter has profiled you out to be a bad tipper so they do not bother trying for that good tip. Try getting a loan or even a refund on some bank fee's that occured because of a single ledger error. Unfortunately, bankers are no longer trained on personal banking and only rely on a computer system to determine if you are "worthy" of receiving a refund. Last, but not least: Try finding faith when facing death. Religion has been corrupted with politics and putting on the cross when it is convenient.

This post is not meant for calling out any one group. That's not the point here. What I am simple addressing is the need to heighten our expectations and hold those that are providing you aservice, of any kind, accountable. If you don't like the automated service responder; or the wait service; or the bank policies, let them know. You chose that establishment to offer them your business. They need to know that because of the new ways to communicate and network, you (the individual) is just as powerful as a group of thousands.

Recently I was guest at a family wedding in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The setting was amazing. The BOK Pavilion at the Tulsa Zoo made for the perfect location for a winter wedding. Something that instantly caught my eye  when I walked into the pavilion were the two photographers running around snapping a few pics while maneuvering their gigantic light panels in order to get the "perfect lighting." The sad thing was in the midst of trying to get beyond the poor lighting, the "professionals" missed a lot of really good photo opportunities.

Disclaimer: Before I move on, I want to be clear on the fact that I am not a professional photographer, nor have I have claimed to be one.

I see a rising problem with the increase in "easy" technology. It is sad to see more and more "professional" web firms and freelancers claiming to build websites on their Mac via iWeb. Same thing goes for photography. Having an expensive camera and being a professional photographer are two different things. Yes, I love shooting with the Nikon D90, but I have also taken some really great pics on my cheap iPhone camera.

Bottom line: I think Tyler Durden said it best when he said, "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken."

*The above pics are actual images from the "professional" photogs at the wedding. I can't mention them by name but I can give you 31 reasons not to use their studio.