I spent this past week in the "scenic city", Chattanooga to be exact, with my brother and his family at a volleyball camp/tournament (whatever you want to call it), watching my beloved niece show off her volleyball skills. We were at couple of different locations/schools for this camp, but I must say, the one that stood out in my mind on the drive back home was Red Bank High School.
Being the cool uncle I am, and as I have no kids of my own, when I can, I volunteer for my nieces and nephews sports teams, and in that respect, have worked many concessions stands. The food is usually, at best, mediocre. Not to mention most of the parents I've worked with in the past would rather be anywhere else than the concessions stand, and it shows. They whine, complain, aren't very friendly or courteous to customers, and it's just very painfully obvious they don't want to be there. Not the folks at Red Bank High School. For starters, they have one of the best high school concessions stands I've ever seen. The menu far exceeded my expectations. They had the typical concessions stand fare.. burgers, dogs, nachos.
But it didn't end there. They had several healthier options as well which I'm sure appealed to many of the parents and grandparents that were in attendance, not to mention their awesome chicken salad sandwich (which I'm told they're famous for.) You rarely if ever see such a spread at a school concessions stand. I've been to many of my niece's volleyball tournaments at many schools, and hardly any of them had a spread even close to this.
And speaking of parents, the folks actually working the concessions stand were the main reason I kept coming back. They were friendly, funny, and looked like they were having a blast. But the big thing for me was the respectful attitude they had towards all the other schools that were at this volleyball camp (and there were a bunch.) I visited a couple of other concessions stands this past week at other schools, and the parents working those concessions stands would repeatedly bash other schools (not to mention the other schools concessions stands), which, in my mind, is disrespectful, a poor example to set for the kids, and will definitely not earn my repeat business.
Not one time did I hear any such nonsense from the Red Bank Concessions stand. Does that mean they didn't do it at some point? I have no idea... but at least they're smart enough not to bash other schools to paying customers. When I order a coke, the last thing I want to hear is some tired parent bashing some school that their precious child doesn't attend. That's immature and disrespectful. It happened at another school I was at this past week, which I won't name. She bashed two other schools while getting my coke out of the cooler. I promptly put my wallet back in my pocket, and told her to keep the coke, and told her I wouldn't be back to her concessions stand. I don't think she ever figured out why she lost my business, permanently.
Aside from the concessions folks, the other staff at Red Bank High School was very courteous, friendly, not to mention the school was incredibly clean for having had a volleyball camp there everyday for four days straight.
I can honestly say this was one of the best times I've had watching my neice play volleyball. Thanks Red Bank High School. You guys are doing it right.
Mike Sudderth