Service from my Pants

I am going to tell you a tale of Service. Customer Service. Service so great, you will want to punch the person next to you and tell them that in all of your days on this earth, you have never heard of Customer Service such as this. I am talking Replacement Pants. Oh yes. It is fabled lore of yesteryear when a company stood behind its products so much that they would replace them should anything happen. However, these days that kind of chivalry is unheard of. 


If you read this blog with any kind of regularity (meaning frequency not the other "regularity"), you will know that I am kind of obsessed with Bonobos pants. They have a shapely fit that makes my backside look like that of a man with an entirely nicer backside than mine. They step up my game even though I don't have any. If you are into brevity, I really like their pants.


Now that you are up to speed on my brand addiction, here's how the rest of this goes down. It was Thursday, 6/14. I woke up and started to get dressed for work as I would any other day. However, realizing it was Thursday, I figured I should wear my Bonobos "Thursday Browns". Before I put them on, i decided to let the good folks at Bonobos know that I'd be wearing them:

Thanks to @bonobos, I know what day it is. ow.ly/i/HcqB
— John Shepard (@RunShepRun) June 14, 2012

They replied back with something witty as usual and my day went on. Around 10:30am I was picking up a bike that a co-worker was letting me borrow for the next couple months (long story). So,I went to the guys car and gave the bike a spin in the parking lot and to my car. On the way, my Thursday Browns caught in the spokes of the bike and ripped. Shock, devastation,& anger all crossed my mind. Followed by this tweet:

@bonobos aaaaand the pants ripped today.
— John Shepard (@RunShepRun) June 14, 2012

What happened next completely threw me for a loop. I was told by a Ninja that they would email me immediately (almost if to console me) and to talk about the pants.
I received an email shortly after in which they were were going to ship out another pair of pants immediately but they wanted to verify which pants in fact I ripped. I couldn't believe I was going to get Replacement pants for something I did on my own free will and accord to F up. Even a 20% discount on my next pair would warrant a blog post, but a brand new pair? Incredible.

So, guys, please, go buy some stuff from Bonobos. They are a truly incredible company with unbelievable customer service.

Getting a round house kick of tremendous customer service from the @bonobosninjas. No one does it better. #happycustomer
— John Shepard (@RunShepRun) June 14, 2012

What we got

Turns out my 11 year old, Michael, missed the memo on getting me iDevices and high fives and landed squarely in the middle. In a moment of "this doesn't sound like a gift, but it's actually an awesome gift," he offered to let me teach him to mow the lawn for Father's Day. Recognizing that this was super-thoughtful and not the norm, I immediately assumed the worst.

Of course by assumed the worst, I don't mean that questioned the motives of my little man. I questioned his butt. As in, I thought "just how stinking far is his 8 pound, 6 ounce caboose gonna be able to push a lawn-mower in 95 degree heat with his spindly arms and his get-that-kid-a-sandwich frame?" as I pictured myself mowing the other 98% of my lawn after his stamina gave out. As they almost always are, my instincts were total crap.

The whole thing was a much sweatier affair than this picture makes it appear.

I spent about ten minutes talking him through the setup (I did pour the gas in myself) and safety ("your siblings appendages won't grow back") and we started mowing. I did the first couple stripes to get him a decent corner to turn in and let the mower stop. Much to my surprise, he was able to start it himself before he started moving. Then he mowed. And mowed. And mowed. And then he mowed the front yard, too. Did he miss a patch here and then? Sure. Did he finish the job with his scrawny little build? Definitely.

So I guess, in the end, the gift wasn't so much the lesson. Or the lawn. Or all of the future lawns (which is AWESOME!). I think the real gift was watching my oldest just impress the living bejeezus out of me by doing way more than I expected he would be able to as a gift to me.

Happy Father's Day.

What we want

Father's Day is approaching and you are more than likely asking yourself "What do I want the family I love so dearly to give me for this semi-made up holiday?" I am going to spare you the obligatory description about how what really matters is Family and how spending time with our kids is a real treasure. We all know that and you can go watch Oprah and cry about it. Not here. Sorry. Lets be honest, since our families think we are awesome, we are going to get something regardless. So it may as well be something we really want.

So here goes. In no particular order:

PANTS
And there's no better place to get them from than Bonobos (with the link provided you can get $50 off your first purchase). They make pants that don't make your butt look dumb. Nay, in fact their pants will make that arse look full and promising. Seriously if they don't hire me on their Marketing team after that plug, I might go back to Dockers.

Ladies... Seriously they are making it easy for you.

FOOD
Thick. Cut. Bacon. They guy above just opened a package of Bacon. See how happy that makes us.


DRINK
No I'm not talking booze here. We can get that on our own... under our desk at work. If you want a dad that is alert an attentive to your needs, by the man some Coffee. Trader Joe's has a wide array of delicious caffeinated gold.

Make Dad's desk look like this.

TECHNOLOGY
While I am a huge Android fan, everyone has heard of an iPhone. And with Today's unveiling of iOS6 (see how on top of stuff we are here at the SFA?) you should look into to getting Dad an iPhone. They are great "tools" and will really make him seem way more important.

HIGH FIVE
All the stuff up there costs money. I know. Times are tough right now and families can't be spending all their hard earned dollars on frivolous things. So, if you can't give Dad a gift, give him a high-five, tell him he's awesome, and then ask to borrow $20 so you can go buy him some bacon.

Told you we wouldn't get sappy.