Chapter Thirteen May 12, 2001 Saturday Little Rock to Memphis We got an early start and drove a big circle around Little Rock. The rain was finished and the sky was beautiful as we drove by the State Capital complex and out to the famous Central High School. Of course, on an early Saturday morning, the city was quite deserted and we were ready to press on long before lunchtime. Dave had been to Little Rock once, and he wanted us to see the baseball diamond for the Arkansas Travelers and the office for the Timex watch people that he had visited back in September of 1995. Even though more than five years had elapsed, Dave could easily find his way about the city and even the warehouse district near the Little Rock Airport. But it was time to head east to Memphis, with a couple hours cross country ahead of us. We arrived in Memphis, and took a quick circle around downtown. We used the cell phone to make our final decision about what we would visit this evening and what we would see Sunday morning. Graceland would be open for us to take a leisurely visit and the new Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel (sight of Martin Luther Kings assassination) would be open Sunday Morning. This was Jesse's first real visit to Graceland, and his first real exposure to Elvis-mania. We had been to Memphis back in June 1990 but Jesse had just turned 3 years old. Since we are not huge fans of "the king", the visit was just novel and interesting. We especially enjoyed the various presentation rooms of gold records, stage costumes, and memorabilia. We skipped the car and plane visits and felt satisfied after about an hour walking around the grounds.  Of course, Dave was not going to miss a chance to get a graveside picture. We next headed from Graceland to the Marriott Courtyard near the Memphis airport, and had a simply horrible experience. We sent Lyn in to get the room key (so we might head out quickly to dinner), and the desk staff was unable to find our reservation. No big deal, this happens all the time. However, between their "Memphis-style" accents and what I like to call "splainin", a bit of a row ensued. We had already had a long day, and were very ready for a relaxing dinner. We did not need a hotel desk clerk that did not know enough to say "How can I help you" and "It would be my pleasure". We were told that "our problem" was this and that we would "have to do" that and that "we should decide" if we want to stay there, etc. Now you just don't talk to customers like that at check-in. Lyn fetched me and I popped in from the car, and quickly straightened things out (but it has honestly been easier to talk in English with a native of Japan than with these particular natives of Memphis). A very simple problem. Our reservation had been entered with a digit transposed to a different Medallion number, to some poor guy from Boise Idaho (that wasn't anywhere near Memphis that night). To prove my point sarcastically, I opened my cell phone while standing before the lobby desk and simply called the Marriott 800 number. While talking to central reservations on the phone, I looked directly into the eyes of the desk clerk and identified myself as a "Diamond" guest that was having a "small problem" at the Memphis airport Courtyard. The people on the phone fell all over themselves to fix the small typo, but my point was completely missed by the desk attendant. THEY should have been the one calling HQ, not me. Lyn followed up in the morning by stopping by the front desk and filling the manager in about the poor communication skills of the evening crew. He fell all over himself (which wasn't necessary or the point). You know, we are just good midwesterners. We want to be treated decently and have hospitality people treat us with, well, hospitality. His comment drew a knowing nod from both of us. "I have great difficulty finding and keeping good people". Isn't that the truth in this day and age. So after a long grueling day of driving and the frustrating mixup at the hotel, we freshened up and quickly headed out to the "Original" Corky's to cheer ourselves up with authentic Memphis style Bar-B-Q. Reginald, our server, greeted us with a smile, boasted about his city, and spoke with pride about all the choices on the menu. Then he made the mistake of asking us how our day had been. We said we were tired and bummed and then told him our story about the grumpy and incompetent hotel clerks we had just experienced. "Weeelll", he announced, (with a chuckle), "that will be the end of that". Again he boasted that Memphis was a city famous for its hospitality and its happy citizens. Even though he was serving a large party at a nearby table, he specifically took extra time to repeatedly check on our progress and ask each time if we were feeling better about our visit to Memphis. But he topped it off by announcing that he was providing us a dessert "on the house" just to make sure we had a good impression of Memphis, of Corky's and of our visit. (Of course, when we asked, he heartily recommended the pecan pie, and of course it was delicious and delightful and he absolutely turned our day around). He was a man that loved his job and loved people and frankly just loved life. Today turned out to be our lucky day. It was Jesse that had the presence of mind to shout out to take Reginald's picture for our web page and story. When we explained how his picture would appear here, he wrote down our URL on his order pad and promised to stop by to check. Thank you Reginald, for turning our day around 100%! Original Web Upload May 2001 Last Update: September 30, 2001