Truly, A Gut Feeling

• Post By: admin
• Date: April 3, 2026
• Category: Uncategorized

Abdominal Pain – Those two words were enough to send me to the hospital. Being 59 years old at the time, I had been around long enough to experience some pain—enough pain really to understand the difference between playing injured versus playing hurt. This, in my calculation, was of the injury variety.

I was admitted on a Friday, we ran tests, then we ran some tests, then we capped off the day with more tests …. And No Food. They didn’t want me to eat until the test results were back; but then everyone went home.  The nurse de-jour said that a doctor would be in bright and early Saturday morning to deliver the test results and then talk about “A Treatment Plan”. Hungrily, I thought, OK.

My wife comes up on Saturday to be there when the Doctor came in, nothing scheduled, as they tend to pop in when they can during their rounds, then came 4:30 Saturday afternoon …

Now, let’s jump ahead to March 23, 2026, this time we are in Las Vegas. For me, Vegas is no longer anything close to a fun town …. Way too many visits over the last 40-years or so, but that folks is where seminars and conventions go. So, I went. If you have ever been to Vegas, you know the deal. Gambling, Drinking, and Smoking, none of which I do any longer. In the years that my wife doesn’t join me for a trip or two out to Sin City, I stay at an awesome place called the South Pointe Hotel and Casino.

Now mind you, they too have Gambling, Drinking, and Smoking, I just don’t partake, but the beauty is that the property isn’t in the middle of the strip, it is South of town and is a wee bit off the beaten path. A diamond in the rough kind of deal. I encourage any and all to go there for your Vegas stays. One of my favorite conferences is the HVAC Excellence National HVAC Educators group, great folks, I recommend them for anyone seeking advancement in their HVAC educational quest, the South Point is where they host this yearly event.

OK, enough of my non-sponsored promotions, why I am jumping to the lovely resort when I just left you hanging in a hospital in Greenville, SC, you may ask?

Well, it all has to do with who’s gambling. That’s right, as I walked across the casino floor, watching, listening, wondering who these folks were, I could not help but to draw some juxtapositions of the casino vs. the hospital.

#1) Everybody is Gambling … Their Cash, their Fate, their Careers, their Lives, and their Health

#2) The Needy and The Greedy … Which is Which? Who is Whom?

#3) What Are YOUR Odds … Play it Safe? – Double or Nothing, Walk Away, or ALL IN!

#4) The Health Insurance Companies and the Health Business (corrupt as it may be)  Overall vs. The Casino

Similar but very different businesses. We usually must go to a hospital – We usually want to go to a casino. Therefore, with the similarities, those being, the amount of money spent by the gamblers (patients) and the actual hospital patients who are gambling, HUGE in both aspects of this equation, why the 180-degree difference in the delivery of the customer experience?

Both of these businesses pour untold dollars into “serving” their customers. Cash spent, usually equals a multiple of that investment in a return – typically. So why is the South Point doing their service so well that “little ole’ me” is online talking about how good they are? Why does the hospital that I was “trapped in” deliver such poor service at my expense?

Don’t get the wrong impression here … The nurses that took care of me at the hospital were indeed top shelf; they too were frustrated at the lack of communication from the “other department”. They did as good of a job as they could in that situation. But the staff at the South Point, didn’t bifurcate the service to “another department”, if you asked anyone for help, they either gave it, or they took me directly to someone who could solve the need.  The South Pointers delivered quality, the hospital could only deliver excuses and nothing concrete—South Point totally increased my and THEIR odds of success by serving well: Exceptionally well.

How did it end up? I am sure you are dying to know … My gallbladder that turned out to be “green and velvety” (direct quote) and had to be removed … the next Tuesday. Following my surgery, knowing I was starving, my bride, Connie Crumpton, delivered me one of my favorite meals to celebrate the success with – A Foot Long Sandwich from Subway. Stellar, I know.

My message to you, after being able to finally purge this story from my brain is:

Please Go And Read These Two Books: (No, I am not getting comp ’ed to promote)

1. Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

2. Everyone Matters by Bob Chapman

These two masterpieces on how to care for A) Your People and B) Your Customers will impact the way you think, act, and serve.

Until next time, Stay eleemosynary focused in all you do!