Company Blog

Help

by Adam Zack — March 6, 2024

“How can I help?”

(Help)I need somebody
(Help) not just anybody
(Help) you know I need someone, help
– The Beatles

There’s a movie from 1958 called The Fly. It starred Vincent Price and is the story of a scientist who invents this machine that teleports objects from one place to another. Not wanting to stop with just objects, he experiments with animals and finally people. The experiment goes terribly wrong when a common fly gets in the teleporting chamber as it’s about to transport the scientist. The result at the other end is a man with a fly’s head and a fly with a man’s head. The most memorable line is the fly-bodied tiny monstrosity screaming in a tiny fly-sized voice “Help meeee! Help meeee!” It’s a phrase that’s been repeated in reference to the film for decades, and you always picture that tiny fly with the human head. Of course, by then, it’s too late to help the fly-man, and the only help that could possibly be given is a quick smack with the fly swatter.

More often today, asking for help is seen as a sign of weakness. Very often in our grocery business (and pretty much in any business) we avoid asking for help. Even when help is offered – “Let me know what I can do to help.” “If you need any help, let me know.” “How can I help?” – it’s by far more likely that it will be met with a “Thanks, but I got this.” “Thanks anyway, but I know how busy you are.” or “I’ll let you know if I need any.” Maybe it’s a big ego, maybe it’s pride, maybe it’s stubbornness or maybe it’s just that we sometimes don’t see the whole picture and appreciate that an offer of assistance is the input we need to deliver the best possible results. A by-product of refusing unsolicited help is that over time people stop offering help and by the time that we realize that we really could use it, we’re too timid to ask because it’s been offered and refused so many times. I like to put it in the perspective of moving. You really don’t want to ask anyone to help you move – after all you don’t even want to move your own crap yourself – but when someone sincerely offers to help you move, don’t you always take them up on it?