A humorous look at ‘company policy…’
Having just finished There is no Mrs. Gezunterman by author Kevin Mednick, I must start out by saying that it was a great read. Not that I’m surprised – it’s just that the book itself was not quite what I had expected. Not that I really knew what to expect to begin with…
In There is no Mrs. Gezunterman we start our journey listening to a phone message left by Mrs. Gezunterman, and yet, according to the book’s title there is no Mrs. Gezunterman. Hmm, interesting… From there we (the readers) meet Max, a young gentleman who is searching for that job, the relationship or some mysterious happening that will fulfill his heretofore unknown purpose or calling.
As the book progresses, we meet other characters in various stages of their lives, but they all have one thing in common: the desire to be treated better by the customer service representatives of large conglomerates. What happened to the days of old; where business was more about consumer happiness and less about profit? While it is true that: (to quote a friend) “profit is not a bad thing,” it does, however, seem that we lose a bit of our humanity when we become obsessed with money/profit.
Fast forward a small way through There is no Mrs. Gezunterman and we come across an elderly grandmother who took her two granddaughters to see a movie. Unfortunately for them, the projector in their theater was broken. It was announced (only to that specific theater) that the ticket fee would be refunded with the stub as proof, but sadly the grandmother had lost/misplaced theirs. Did she get her money refunded? Should she have? I don’t want to give any more of the story away, but I will reiterate that it was a great read; with a nice twist at its conclusion.
In summary, Kevin Mednick writes well, and with humor. The many characters of There is no Mrs. Gezunterman are believable, and of course the situations/happenings are ones that we (the readers) can definitely relate to – most likely from personal experience. While There is no Mrs. Gezunterman will probably never be listed as a ‘classic, it should, however, be placed into the ‘must read’ category. It was an ironically humorous look at today’s world of ‘corporate/company policy’ and the dissatisfied consumers that those policies create. If there really is a TULP (Treat Us Like People) organization, I, too, would like to become a member…