Cubs Now Hiring

The Cubs apparently had plenty of applicants for their numerous seasonal positions during their annual job fair this year. Fueled by ever-rising unemployment numbers, the Cubs find themselves in the rare situation of actually hiring people.

This is great for the few people who might be able to weather the bad economic storm by vending some peanuts or cracker-jack, showing the ticket-holding tourists where their seats actually are as opposed to where they indignantly think they are, or keeping crazed lunatics from running out on the field.

This is also an opportunity for the Cubs to step up their level of customer service.

The Cubs stadium personnel has long been short of actually backing up the claim that Wrigley Field is the Friendly Confines. It is more like the We Took Your Money So I Suppose We Can't Throw You Out Until the Game is Over Confines.

Security is surly and the ushers tend to make security seem like Mr. Good Times Happy Guys. The concessions are slow and not overly courteous. I won't even go back into my feelings on the ingrates in the ticket office.

These people that the Cubs are hiring should be damn glad to have a job, so they should be pretty willing to aspire to whatever high level of customer service the Cubs deem necessary to roll out.

Afterall, the Cubs are also unique in the fact that they have somehow managed to raise their ticket prices again without any impact on the demand, despite more and more of their fans losing almost half of their retirement savings, getting laid-off, or going into foreclosure.

I would think that this is the year that the Cubs should live up to their flowery phrases and marketing copy, and actually show some appreciation to their fans. It would be nice if the usher I have passed about 100 times in the last two years would eventually know that I do belong there, and if he is still a bit fuzzy, somehow manage to ask me to see my ticket in a pleasant manner, or failing all of that, simply saying "thank you" when I produce the same ticket I have shown him 100 other times. I really don't ask for much.

I know the ownersip is changing hands and I'm sure the people who currently work there are trying to think of ways they may be able to impress the new boss so they can keep their jobs. In my opinion, showing some common decency to the fans as humans that have funded their recent hirings, rather than walking, talking cash-machines would be a good place to start.