Summer is fast approaching its midway milestone. The extraordinary heat that characterises midsummer in Malta is the time for siestas and hopefully sweet dreams. But often these dreams turn into nightmares that make us grumpy and want to let off steam.

I love Marsaxlokk and am impressed by how the seafront in this quaint fishing village has been commercialised for the benefit of tourism in the south of our Island. Whenever I get the chance I like to entertain my business guests in one of the numerous outdoor restaurants on the Marsaxlokk seafront.

Unfortunately, my last three visits to these restaurants turned out to be complete nightmares. The latest disappointment related to the poor quality service I received in one on these restaurants. When I ordered a baked silver bream served off the bone I thought this was not too much to ask for, especially considering the substantial price quoted.

But what I got was a massacred silver bream with a rubbery texture that was badly cooked and served with bones and all in a cold plate. I am sure that this poor bream was just popped in a microwave oven for a few minutes and not baked as requested.

This nightmare was even more nasty as my complaints to the waiter and the owner only brought a mild apology and an assurance by the waiter that he could really not comment on my complaint as he “never eats the food cooked in the restaurant” where he works.

An even scarier nightmare haunted me after Gozo. I booked a two-day stay in what is one of Gozo’s prestigious hotels. I was attending a business related social activity and booked a twin room on line with my name and that of my wife clearly indicated on the booking confirmation. But the front office staff and their manager insisted that I pay a surcharge because two persons were in fact staying in a twin room! To make my nightmare even scarier, the air conditioner in the room was all noise and no cooling – not quite the kind of amenity you expect in an overpriced hotel.

But this summer was also about sweet dreams that make me optimistic about the future of our society. A young couple who are my friends explained to me that this summer they had to reduce their budget on social activities because they had to incur substantial expenses to upgrade their home.

These young professionals did not complain about their poor pay in the public service, but were proud of the sacrifices they had to make to achieve their dream of a comfortable home.

We need to invest in emotional intelligence – the ability to empathise with people who feel aggrieved by not getting what they rightly expect for the money they pay

These are the kind of values that I admire. I detest the attitude of many others who like to play the victims and wallow in self-pity hoping that someone will compensate them for their often imaginary sufferings.

I experienced another sweet dream in my favourite restaurant in Qbajjar in Gozo. The staff are cheerful, genuinely interested in giving a good service, and always prepared to address their customers’ complaints with effective solutions. I am sure that none of them has ever attended a catering school or even followed a customer care training course. Their friendliness is contagious and comes from the heart – quite the opposite of the Teflon-coated attitude of the senior staff of the hotel I mentioned earlier.

The economic future of our country depends on how successful we are in hardwiring quality in everything that we do, especially in the services industries where value added often depends on the competence and attitude of every individual employed. Mediocrity is our worst enemy. Unfortunately, few service providers have really taken on board the concept of aiming for excellence in all that they do to satisfy their customers.

We often equate customer service with being courteous and polite in a formal way. But there is more to quality service than this. We need to invest in emotional intelligence – the ability to empathise with people who feel aggrieved by not getting what they rightly expect for the money they pay.

This could well mean re-educating both management and workers in some of our service industries. It also means seeking customer feedback and working hard to remedy the weaknesses identified by those who are ultimately paying our wages and salaries by giving us the privilege to serve them.

This is the stuff midsummer dreams are made of.

johncassarwhite@yahoo.com