Credit for Drew Where Credit Is Due

Two weeks ago, I received my highly-anticipated t-shirt order from the fine folks at Toothpaste for Dinner and Married to the Sea. I brought them home triumphantly for the holidays -- breathlessly awaiting how my parents would react to the Booze Time shirt -- and immediately threw them in the washing machine so I could enjoy them.

Two survived the trip unscathed. My long-awaited drinking shirt, however, was a casualty.

Turns out there was something up with the stitching on the bottom of the shirt. When it came out of the washer, well over two feet of thread was dangling from the undone seam, and though I snapped the thread off, it was still coming undone pretty easily.

My first reaction was to ask Mom if she could stitch it up like new. She said she couldn't, and that she only knew one person who could: Franny, an elderly woman that we work with. (And no matter how much Mom insisted that she would be down with it, there was no way in hell I was going to give an old lady with a heart condition a shirt with the word "motherfucking" on it.)

And because I'm mostly nonconfrontational, when Mom suggested I e-mail the company and ask for a replacement, I was naturally a little uneasy. Nevertheless, when faced with the prospect of never washing my drinking shirt -- which, though not totally unnatural, doesn't seem like a terribly sanitary idea -- or never wearing it again, I bucked up and e-mailed Sharing Machine.

Four minutes later, I got a reply. It was an apology, a request for my size and mailing address, and an assurance that a replacement shirt would be sent out tomorrow.

Signed, Drew.

Now, I don't know for sure if this is the same Drew who is responsible for the content of Toothpaste for Dinner, but as he and Natalie are known for keeping their business ventures small and close to the chest, it wouldn't shock me if that was the man himself.

Regardless, the fact that they responded ABNORMALLY FAST and that they offered to replace the shirt without question makes me want to personally give them a high-five. Someone out there still understands that you can't spell "customer service" without the "customer," and it's always nice to be reminded of that.

So if you're looking to get your favorite alcoholic, grammar bitch, or obsessive-compulsive academic a great Christmas gift this year, I suggest looking at the shirts on Sharing Machine and patronizing folks who'll do the right thing and treat you right.

Oh, and read their comics, too. They're funny as hell.