Do you remember the movie “Princess Bride” with Cary Elwes?
I was in Baltimore conducting a Keynote to 900 people a couple of weeks ago. I had 300 copies of my new book “A Simple Choice” shipped UPS to the hotel. I went to the front desk and they informed me I could find them at the UPS business center.
When I inquired the fellow said to me, “Oh, yes, we have them here. That will be $100.” I replied, “No, I already paid that. YOU GUYS SHIPPED THEM!” “No,” he said, “That’s the holding fee.” A little stunned, I said, “Fine, could you bring them to Salon A, I am presenting this morning and I am recovering from rotator cuff surgery.” “Sorry,” he said. We can’t go into the convention center…” (I thought to myself, what am I paying for? Where is the service???)
I told my story to the front desk at the Hilton downtown. They said the same thing! I started to get upset and stopped myself. “Did you ever see Princess Bride, the movie?” I asked. “Yes,” the woman behind the counter said with an odd look on her face. “Do you remember how the prince won the princess’s heart? He kept saying after every one of her requests, ‘AS YOU WISH’ ~ That is all I am looking for. For someone to say AS YOU WISH! Just then, the bellhop came over and said to me, with a smile, ‘Sir, AS YOU WISH!’ We picked up the books from the not-so-friendly guys at the UPS Business Center and wheeled them over to Salon A. I gave him a $20 tip and a copy of my new book. Mathew was his name. He is from Nigeria. He said to me, “I might get in trouble for doing this but I don’t care. Thanks for the book and the tip.”
The acronym T.I.P. used to mean “To Insure Promptness” Somewhere along the way we started giving it at the end instead of the beginning. Where have all the Mathew’s gone?
I need to rent “Princess Bride” again. I am just in a guy in Edmonds looking for someone to say AS YOU WISH!
Recent Tweets
As You Wish
by Mark Matteson on October 15, 2010 in Commentary
Do you remember the movie “Princess Bride” with Cary Elwes?
I was in Baltimore conducting a Keynote to 900 people a couple of weeks ago. I had 300 copies of my new book “A Simple Choice” shipped UPS to the hotel. I went to the front desk and they informed me I could find them at the UPS business center.
When I inquired the fellow said to me, “Oh, yes, we have them here. That will be $100.” I replied, “No, I already paid that. YOU GUYS SHIPPED THEM!” “No,” he said, “That’s the holding fee.” A little stunned, I said, “Fine, could you bring them to Salon A, I am presenting this morning and I am recovering from rotator cuff surgery.” “Sorry,” he said. We can’t go into the convention center…” (I thought to myself, what am I paying for? Where is the service???)
I told my story to the front desk at the Hilton downtown. They said the same thing! I started to get upset and stopped myself. “Did you ever see Princess Bride, the movie?” I asked. “Yes,” the woman behind the counter said with an odd look on her face. “Do you remember how the prince won the princess’s heart? He kept saying after every one of her requests, ‘AS YOU WISH’ ~ That is all I am looking for. For someone to say AS YOU WISH! Just then, the bellhop came over and said to me, with a smile, ‘Sir, AS YOU WISH!’ We picked up the books from the not-so-friendly guys at the UPS Business Center and wheeled them over to Salon A. I gave him a $20 tip and a copy of my new book. Mathew was his name. He is from Nigeria. He said to me, “I might get in trouble for doing this but I don’t care. Thanks for the book and the tip.”
The acronym T.I.P. used to mean “To Insure Promptness” Somewhere along the way we started giving it at the end instead of the beginning. Where have all the Mathew’s gone?
I need to rent “Princess Bride” again. I am just in a guy in Edmonds looking for someone to say AS YOU WISH!
Tags: as you wish, Princess Bride