As I walked into Central Park yesterday with my girlfriend, a horse-drawn carriage driver tried to offer me a ride for $120. Figuring that it was a pretty nice day and we wanted spend our money elsewhere, I said “No, thanks.” and kept walking.
Much to our surprise, the carriage driver yelled, “Enjoy your mugging.”
As a Minnesotan, who is used to “Minnesota nice,” I was caught off guard. What must this carriage driver thinking?
He works in an industry driven by tourists. It’s not like other tourists didn’t hear him, or hear my story.
In the new media world we live in, it doesn’t make any sense to treat a non-customer poorly. Non-customers can talk to other potential customers. Non-customers write blogs, they write reviews, and they can talk to mass audiences with a few simple keystrokes.
Below is a picture of me in Times Square, as well as a picture taken just hours after the Times Square bombing.
