This revelation struck me like a thunderbolt. It took some time to recover. I went through several stages – shock, fear, denial – before finally I accepted that, yes, OK, the old days are over. It’s time to recognise that customers bring the money in.
Still, there are pockets of resistance to this revolutionary idea.
Pubs in England obviously poo poo the idea. If a local barman must choose between selling drinks to thirsty punters, or stacking glasses on the shelf, the shelf wins out every time. Some won’t even look at me in anger. Well not until the tills have been closed and there are towels over the pumps.
Still, you won’t find that attitude in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress. The street robbers are especially customer centric. One of my favourite sights is the herd of MWC punters wandering down La Rambla, looking for watering holes. It’s like a scene David Attenborough might have set up. Packs of lionesses (well, aggressive hookers) lay in wait as the delegates come wildebeesting down the iconic, but dangerous, Catalonian throughfare.
Many are picked off on the dangerous crossing. If the hookers don’t get you, the hyenas will pickpocket you. Even when you think you are safe, and sipping serenely at your drink, a predator can come lurching up from the depths, fix a deadly chokehold on your wallet and drag your laptop off into the inky darkness.
But if you survive, it’s a glorious, life affirming experience. A bit like Pamplona, only with mobile marketing delegates, rather than steers, thundering through the streets looking lost. So, I’ll see you at La Rambla, at the running of the bull.