Cast Iron Customer Service - friday 2009-05-01 0144 last modified 2009-05-01 0144
Categories: Food
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I bought a cast iron pan from Lodge Manufacturing. The name (if not the corporate entity behind it) has for decades been synonymous with quality cookware that lasts through multiple generations. The package arrived making clanking noises. The handle snapped off in transit. It was a sad moment; in the past, dropping a pan with focal impact on the handle join would have left the floor worse off, not the pan.

Still, they're versatile even if the durability's suffered in industrialization, and I dreaded the cost and delay of having to repack and ship a pan to Tennessee. Well, after leaving a voicemail with customer service, I was pleasantly surprised to find the next morning that they didn't behave like tech toy companies with 15% "restocking fees": they'd already kicked off a replacement shipment, no questions asked, no evidence required. When it arrives, I can simply throw away the busted one.

A company that trusts its customers to behave like responsible adults. That's novel. I'll need to experiment with the pan when it arrives to say any more about its designated use, but I anticipate quality. Now, who wants a handle?

Comments

must be nice to ...

must be nice to build a corporation based out of human trust :) finished the 1st part of mountains beyond mountains-- so much human compassion! although I dream of what it would look like with God-inspired-compassion...

yining :) on May 01, 2009 02:59 AM

I would hesitate...

I would hesitate to draw too firm a divide between divinely inspired compassion and human compassion. He is imitating God's character in choosing to suffer with the oppressed (in part because of the tenets of Catholic liberation theology), and that seems pretty close to inspiration to me.

Ryan Lee on May 08, 2009 06:10 PM

Truth

True, true... but is it medical malpractice to share temporary hope in a dying world without offering eternal hope? Recently thinking about the reality of Hell and its absolutely painful.

yining :) on May 10, 2009 02:55 AM

This isn't limit...

This isn't limited to the medical field. Anybody can fail to love vocationally, regardless of what benefit their vocation is to society. As it is, I think the church has more to learn about compassion from Farmer than he does from the church, which, I think, has no exclusive claim on the matter. Our worldview is too small when we choose to not recognize compassion from outside the church as worth celebrating, examining, and even adapting - that is, since God exhibits compassion, it reflects Him no matter where it's to be found.

Ryan Lee on May 10, 2009 03:55 AM

expanding world view

I agree with the celebration of compassion of those outside of the church (God = Love) and the world indeed does many things far better than the church today. but what I find concerning is the reality of eternity and souls lost forever despite their compassion, good works, and temporary triumphs-- everything that seemed so important deemed in the eyes of the Judge as nothing...

Yes its not limited to one occupation but goes for all-- like the God Out of the Box book, anyone in any occupation, walking in step with God, goes far beyond human imagination- and I was just imagining one like Farmer walking in step with God, thus resulting in far more world shaking changes

yining :) on May 12, 2009 04:22 AM

There is an alge...

There is an algebraic assumption about impact I don't agree with. It may be clear that dropping an egg from a tall building without any interference will result in a messy sidewalk; much of the rest of humanity is not governed by any rules we can discern. Which is good. Creation and the kingdom of God are not reductive formulae with solutions.

There is a disconnect between agreeing compassion is worth celebrating and subsequently calling it judged worthless. What are we to make of that difference? It can't be both, can it?

Ryan Lee on May 11, 2009 07:11 AM

*edit*

hmmmmm yeah convicted by Holy Spirit regarding my narrow mindedness... Thank you for revealing different parts of the bigger picture truth I've never before entertained.

yining :) on May 12, 2009 04:21 AM

Discussion is hi...

Discussion is highly valuable to me, and I appreciate your engagement in it.

I don't disagree at all about an individual's choices having personal ramifications. The difference in our approaches to this is in how individualistic the concept of 'impact' is understood. Everybody leaves a legacy amongst their community; I don't think that's nullified based on a person's particular doctrinal belief or lack thereof. That legacy may or may not have eternal implications; there's no way we can know with certainty what precisely they are. The ways in which decisions of integrity decades ago can shape today or decisions out of paucity of character can serve as warning (or something else entirely) are far, far beyond our ken.

Ryan Lee on May 12, 2009 04:29 AM

Now & Eternity

I have the tendency to frame everything in terms of Eternity (specifically in the number of souls saved and or brought closer to the knowledge of the goodness and mercy of God-- which makes Faith the critical piece of any picture). Meanwhile you have an appreciation for the benefits and progress made Today... Both are good... But I'm remembering a picture someone mentioned way back (was it even one of those ICF retreats?) about aligning everything in life against two posts-- one post for 10 years from now and the second for Eternity-- that picture has been implanted in my heart ever since. If one like Farmer is aligned with the first post alone, its my prayer that the second will come as well; I think thats the missing piece thats been bothering me this whole time and the place where we differ.

yining :) on May 13, 2009 12:45 AM

I suggest we try...

I suggest we try to avoid using language that only a certain subculture would understand. Saying things in a different way may be helpful for all involved, and I must admit selfishness in doing so, because I think the set of language is too restricted in Christian circles and that serves to lull real discussion into familiarity, and that's a pet peeve.

But I also suggest doing so because I know part of the difference can be attributed to language. I'm not using "eternity" language by design, and I think that that's in some ways not helping the discussion along. I guess it's at least worth keeping in mind that that's part of where I'm coming from.

While it may be interesting (or even necessary at some point) to stray down conversational paths about underlying philosophical foundations, my main assertion is that Farmer's compassion has the capacity to be redemptive and is not simply ultimately worthless (given a certain set of assumptions about him hold true). I have not said (and will continue to avoid saying) anything about his "eternal" fate, if only to keep my main point clear. As I said previously, what he does reverberates in the lives of those around him. I can't say down to the last mote what that may imply (not just for him) as time passes into forever. With the giant scope of human life over time, I think what we can see is a mere fraction.

Ryan Lee on May 14, 2009 07:37 AM

Agreed...

that Farmer's compassion has the capacity to be redemptive... and is redemptive and I honor him for it. Through history God shows His redemption through the most unlikely, so Farmer's compassion can be viewed as redemptive not only in practical terms but also its capacity for eternal terms. That other part is another discussion on another plane; I don't see a disconnect and yet I'm not used to talking about it in the plain non-cliche terms which you may prefer. But I will give honor to where honor is due and Farmer is one of them (even if its different from what I'm used to).

yining :) on May 14, 2009 10:01 PM

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