Story may shed light on N. Korea

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

It's a busy week and here are some random thoughts.

The "Boston Globe" story that reported the state's Transportation Finance Commission had been thinking about tolls on Interstate 291 and 391 was apparently wrong.

Thank God.

The idea the state would put up tool booths on either short road to raise revenues is beyond comprehension.

In a press release issued last week, State Representative Joseph Wagner, the chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, said, "I have spoken with Commission Chairman Stephen Silveira and he has made clear to me that there has not been a discussion by the Commission relative to the placement of tolls on I-291 and I-391 in western Massachusetts."

Whoever gave the "Globe" the bad information certainly under-scored an important point: making a source go "on-record" is always better than allowing them to be anonymous.

It's interesting to note, though, that there is no representative from western Massachusetts on that commission. We did have one, former Pioneer Valley Transit Authority Administrator Gary Shepherd, who is part of a federal investigation.

Clearly we need a voice on that commission.

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From my file labeled "Stories the Big Media are Ignoring" comes this dispatch from the Oct. 16 edition of the international edition of "Newsweek."

Now carry the copy of this paper over to your computer and log onto http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15175633/site/newsweek/.

Here's the start of the article: "On Sept. 19, 2005, North Korea signed a widely heralded denuclearization agreement with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. Pyongyang pledged to 'abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.' In return, Washington agreed that the United States and North Korea would "respect each other's sovereignty, exist peacefully together and take steps to normalize their relations.

"Four days later, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sweeping financial sanctions against North Korea designed to cut off the country's access to the international banking system, branding it a 'criminal state' guilty of counterfeiting, money laundering and trafficking in weapons of mass destruction.

"The Bush administration says that this sequence of events was a coincidence."

People have been wondering about an October surprise some event that a political party could use to bolster its position or take attention away from a weakness. Now this particular surprise took a year to cook, but one has to admit the North Korean detonation of a nuclear device just weeks from the mid-term elections has been an interesting monkey wench thrown into the works.

For an interesting take on why "Newsweek" didn't run this story in the editions read in the United States, go to http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2006/10/dumbing_it_down.html.

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Every day all of us run into people who don't do their jobs very well. You know who I mean the rude donut shop clerk; the civil servant who doesn't care that he or she works for you; the drone at the big box store who is supposed to be an expert, but doesn't know his flange from his washer.

Well, lately I've been keeping track of folks who are the exact opposite people who actually understand customer service.

If you go into Bob's Bakery on Exchange Street in Chicopee, you'll notice the folks there are actually happy to see you, despite the fact their day starts at 3 a.m.! And their baked goods are great.

The same thing goes for the folks at the Donut Dip in East Longmeadow they are always polite and cheery.

Hey who would have figured a fat man knows all the good places to buy donuts?

The manager of the Pride convenience store in East Longmeadow is always consistently cheerful no matter how early it is in the morning.

I've never had a bad experience with the staff who accepts the bill payments at the Louis and Clark Drugstore in 16 Acres.

My man Jake at City Jake's restaurant in downtown Springfield knows many of his customers by name.

And the wait staff at the Route 66 Diner on Bay Street in Springfield also should be commended for their attention to their customers.

Who are the people who deserve your kudos? Drop me a line.

This column represents the opinions of its author. Send your comments to mdobbs@reminderpublications.com or to 280 N. Main St., East Longmeadow, MA 01028.