"Hello, this is New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore...."

It really gets to me anymore to call any kind of customer service number, especially for any major company, because they've all moved their call centers to India, Pakistan and other Near East countries, often resulting in botched communications between caller and call center representative. I had just such an instance this morning attempting to call Amazon.com's customer service number regarding a question of shipping cost on an order. I swear, I had to repeat my name, address and e-mail address a half dozen times before the individual on the other end of the line understood me and got it all right. Now, I understand the difficulty of dealing with people with a marginal command of English or in some far off foreign country, but I don't understand why so many companies have shipped all of their customer care centers to India and Pakistan. It doesn't seem to make good business sense to frustrate your customers who just want their problem taken care of without having to wrestle with language barriers. Sure, it's probably helped India to create more jobs and lift more of their people out of poverty. After all, look at what a bustling financial center Mumbai has become to the point of being a prime target for anti-Indian terrorists. But for Americans who have to call any kind of customer service number for help, coping with someone on the other end of the line whose command of English leaves much to be desired or whose accent is difficult to wade through, it can be a real nightmare sitting on the phone endlessly being put on hold while your "customer care representative" goes off to research your problem....over.....and over....and over again. What ever happened to good old fashioned American customer care centers that employ American workers who speak English and to whom you don't have to repeat your information six million times before they get it right? I personally don't have anything against these folk who are working in these call centers. I mean, they've got to earn a living, too, like the rest of us. I just wish that American companies didn't ship all of their customer service jobs to foreign countries, forcing frustrated American customers to try to understand thick accents and occasional language barriers.

MY FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET

I remember the long gone days when every neighborhood seemed to have its little mom 'n' pop market where everybody knew your name and you shopped there regularly to stock up on provisions. We had "Dick & Polly's" in our neighborhood which we referred to growing up as "The Little Store". We also had "Ferrara's" which was a Sparkle Market store run by a large local Italian family who went to our church. Downtown, we had "Kline's Market", also run by a large family with whom we went to church. And there was a little store at the corner of three streets that come together in our town, Crain, Lake and Water Streets. Of course, these are all gone now that big box franchise supermarkets have been in our town for some time. But I deeply miss the little mom 'n' pop markets that used to dominate every neighborhood, and in Akron, there's still one such place that I absolutely love, Devitis Italian Market. Admittedly, they carry Italian specialties that you can't find anywhere else, so it's more of a little ethnic market that caters to the North Hill Akronites, most of whom are Italian. Walking into this store, one is immediately struck by the strong aroma of Italian food that is positively mouthwatering. Walking up and down the aisles, I almost feel as if I am in Europe. People speaking in Italian or at least in thick Italian accents come into the store to pick up their favorite specialty items. In the rear of the store, you can pick up everything from Italian pasta salad (this writer's favorite!) to lasagna, all freshly made. You can also score some delicious Italian pastries, cookies, baguettes and other delicious goods. And let's not forget the great Italian wines! Everyone who shops there seems to know everyone else. Being a semi-regular, I've gotten to be known amongst the store personnel myself. Yesterday I was in there and a woman in front of me in the cashier's line was picking up what to me appeared to be a delicious assortment of produce, lots of wonderful looking vegetables, herbs and other things that are obviously meant to be made into something incredibly tasty. The cashier mentioned that she saw the lady last night at the "Carovillese Club" and the woman answered in a thick Italian accent. The "Carovillese Club" is a social club in North Hill and for years, this name mystified me, until I began to read the obituaries in the Akron newspaper and found that many of the Italian immigrants in Akron were born in Carovilli, Italy, thus, the origin of the name. It's obvious that the newly landed immigrants wanted a place where they could gather and reunite in their new home city and perhaps feel more at home in America. North Hill Akron also has Ninni's Italian bakery which produces delicious Italian confections, so this part of Akron is a little slice of Italy and as a result, I'm glad that they still have one of the last of the old fashioned mom 'n' pop markets that feels like stepping into the past when such things were a regular feature of just about every neighborhood.