This week we have been planning something big for Halloween, because I like dressing up and Barny likes building things. I’m not going to tell you what it is though. You will have to come and find us that week. We did some fairly gentle dressing up last year, and anecdotally it might have scared off a few customers – the day started more slowly than normal for that market. My theory is not that we were terribly scary (although of course we were) but that people were a little concerned that they might have to get involved. So this year we decided to up the ante and see how far we can take it. That’s going above and beyond.
Mostly though, that would probably be an extreme example. Going above and beyond is terribly fashionable in the Big Book of Customer Service Skillz, but there has to be a line somewhere, and that line usually happens between what people take for granted and what you can afford to do for them.
Being friendly is an underrated one. Within street food the attitudes are wonderful, but once you get beyond the cosy enclave of people who are working for their own business and out into the place where employees are paid to serve scratty brown slices of connective tissue it tends to tail off a little. It’s a shame; making conversation with the folks waiting for food is one of my favourite hobbies. I learn fun facts, find out about the most random jobs imaginable and also hear about how life is ticking along in the big wide world.
Random Job Example: This delightful dame spends her weekends being a Victorian era child prostitute. Like all Victorians – and probably all prostitutes, she loves a good toastie.
Then there are those complicated occasions when Above and Beyond becomes synonymous with the phrase “for free”. I take issue with this. We were invited to do an event for a major company with pots of cash. Nice. Everything was organised and paid for, and then a few days before we were informed we would need to stay on site for an extra 4 hours after we had finished serving. And arrive three hours beforehand. We said that was fine, and that we wouldn’t charge them for the morning, but sent them an additional invoice for our long wait once serving was over. After much back and forth, and several insistences that there was no more budget, we told them we would have to simply leave once we were done. The budget appeared. The thing about catering is that your most expensive cost isn’t food or pitch fees or running costs, it’s people. Even though we don’t exactly pay ourselves an hourly rate, our time is still really precious to us.
Above and beyond, for me, means giving something back as well. The street food life suits us, and assuming the van starts in the morning, it’s good fun. So I want to help others get out there and trade safely and to help any non-street-food-folks (we call you muggles, sorry) to better understand what we do and how we do it. Also food porn. Love a bit of that. This is why I write the blog. It means that for a few hours each week I can sit and have a think about life, toasties and everything, and still be technically doing something useful.
All in all, I think going A&B sometimes is what makes street food fun, and probably also what has kept us in business for this long. There has to be a limit, but as long as that limit doesn’t stop me doing awesome stuff at Halloween we’re cool. In the mean time, let me leave you with a coy pigeon that looks like it was on Babylon 5.
Anyone wishing to sample Halloween awesomeness can find us on Wednesday the 29/10/14 at Warwick Uni Market on the Piazza and Friday 31/10/14 from 5:30 at Digbeth Dining Club.
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