As most of us know, spending time at a mobile phone retailer is like spending time at a DMV or an STD testing facility - it's simultaneously boring and stressful. I've been to Mobile Generation on Western three times, and it was neither boring nor stressful any of the times.
Damien helped me out the first two visits when I was ordering a new phone. He was unbelievably friendly and his conversational approach was organic, as opposed to the unctuous canned garbage you get from bank tellers and used car salesmen. We talked about our hometowns, about the Bulls, and the conversation genuinely made me feel like I was catching up with an old bud. He's the kind of dude I'd spend a lot of time talking to if I ran into him at a bar or a concert.
Nicole helped me the third time, when I picked up my phone. I may or may not have been slightly drunk (my friend and I decided to day drink, because we had the day off, so why the heck not?), so I was uncharacteristically chatty. I'd wager that Nicole could see this, but she was super-friendly and professional, but, again, not in the gross, transparent way that many bank tellers and used car salesmen are. In no way did I feel like she was trying to sell me anything, which actually drove me to buy a pink phone case. I suppose that had I been indecisive or demure, she would have tried to push some accessories on me, but I'm confident that she would have done so in the friendliest way possible, yet within the assertive parameters of Verizon's corporate policy.
Although it's probably too early to declare this, I do suspect that whenever I see or hear the word 'Verizon' from here on out, I'm going to think about Damien and Nicole and Mobile Generation on Western, and how the store has managed to shatter my previous belief that mobile phone retailers are always horrible places. I'm not sure how often I'm going to require mobile phone accessories in the near future, but I do know that I'm going to spend time intentionally steering conversations I have with friends and strangers toward phones or Verizon or Lincoln Square or whatever, so that I can implore them to visit and shop with Damien and Nicole at Mobile Generation on Western. If I were an octopus with opposable thumbs on my tentacles, I'd squirt ink everywhere and give it eight thumbs up, but I guess a five-star Yelp review will have to suffice for now. read more