I go out to dinner often, and whether I order water or diet soda, these folks, most of the time, put lemon in my drink if I forget to ask them not to. I don't like lemons, and outside of lemon meringue pie, I'm not overly crazy about the flavor either.

So imagine my reaction when someone sent me this link earlier today (you can download it for now by right clicking on it and saving it to your computer) on the dangers of getting lemons at restaurants. I'm not going to go into it, as you can check the link for yourself, but this report was about as nasty as the one about bedspreads in hotels.

The thing is, this story is about more than lemons. It's about personal responsibility, cleanliness, and good customer service. Sometimes we think we're in an environment that's relatively clean and safe, but surrounding us is a lot of dirt and mold and who knows what else because the people in charge of that area are doing superficial things, rather than doing what it takes to be top notch. Of course, we see that in other areas also; I may not like spelling errors or errors of omission on local news broadcasts or on their local website, but I'm literally stunned when I see the same things on a consistent basis when I'm on CNN or MSNBC. And how many of us who have been in the position of hiring new personnel have balked when we get a resume that looks like it was written by an 8-year old? That's not putting one's best foot forward at all.

I don't expect perfection ever; I do expect very good, though, especially from myself, because if I'm not willing to give it, then I shouldn't expect it from anyone else. I would hope that I'm not the only one, and companies and the like will start to understand that what they consider as an extra cost or expense can go a long way towards solidifying one's reputation.