Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Treated Rudely

Treated rudely
This might be an unnecessary post, but I was wondering if any has been treated rudely at the portal store. We were there last September and the gentleman behind the counter was not a very nice person. I tried to ask him what the weather was supposed to be like tomorrow, and his smart axx comment was. I don’t know, what’s the weather supposed to be at your house tomorrow. There were a few other comments but not worth mentioning. This gentleman was about 50 with white shoulder length hair. He looked like he should have been in Berkley smoking pot. I can say the store lost a future customer, because of a simple comment. We had six of us up there last week, none of us used the store to buy something. This was just my two cents.

maybe the guy was upset about something else. in retail, you often run into people so inconsiderate you reach your own boiling point and unload on the next person in the door. all this is pure spec, of course.

I will say when I was up at the portal store at end of july, everyone there treated us with genuine interest in taking care of whatever our needs were. including talking about the weather, since it was cloudy on the mountain.

our entire party spoke with a guy with long hair (and mustache) all about the weather, the mountain, supplies, etc., for close to 10 minutes in the store and all the while he was holding his breakfast plate in his hand, never once telling us we were a bother. his name is doug and whether he was ever in berkeley or not was not an issue.

everyone one there was very nice, and very accomodating as I am sure we were novices and asking questions they have heard one million times.

This may be a case of reaping what you sew and, at the time, Doug probably wished he was in Berkeley smoking. I agree with Norweejunwood. Everyone at the WPS has always been very helpful and patient even though they have probably heard the same questions a thousand times. Doug is probably the most knowledgeable person there is about Mt. Whitney and you can tell that he enjoys sharing his knowledge with others. Doug and his family also pay for, and maintain, this message board, for which I am very grateful. Thanks Doug and family!

The gentleman that you refere to, Doug, has helped me and many others on several previous climbs. He is also our host on (and pays for) this bulletin board.

Every time I've dealt with anyone in the WP store, I've been treated in a very friendly manner. Doug has a great deal of enthusiasm about hiking and climbing in the area, and he's always gone out of his way to give advice. In fact, when I was preparing to head up the MR for the first time just last month, he helped with specifics about the trail leading up to the E-Ledges and went out of his way to show me pictures of the chute above the notch leading to the summit. (Ask about those; they're up on the wall behind the cash register.)

The person who started this thread must've caught him on a VERY bad day--and we all have those.

L

Nah, you're just p*ssed cause he put you on the
spot and you couldn't think of an equally smart-@ss response. The right response and you both would have been slapping each other on the back and swapping cell #'s instead of you p*ssed and lost revenue for Doug.

We've all been there. Shake it off. Wasn't nothin.

Besides, outside of the LA Freeway, I've never
met a mean Californian...

My first reaction was the old saying, "You can't please all the people all the time". But I don't even think that applies to this thread, because I've met Doug and his wife, have seen them in action for a number of days in the Portal Store, and am always totally amazed at how cordial Doug is to everybody. And I mean everybody, novice first timer, or obviously experienced hiker. He spent time with and gave advice to everybody whom I saw him talking to, and there's only one of Doug, if it was me, I know I couldn't have had that much patience and caring for that many people day in and day out. I thought he was a Saint.

I was next in line making a purchase in the store and his wife Earlene (sp?) was behind the counter. A young boy made a small purchase and insisted on counting his nickles and dimes on the counter, even after Earlene offered her help. She didn't get the least bit agitated, in fact i was totally impressed by the fact that she could tell that this little guy was trying to be independent and wanted to do this himself. It wasn't until there were about 3 people behind me in line that she very kindly said to the boy "Why don't you finish counting those over here on the side while I get a couple of other people in line." Again, I'm a very patient person, but everybody I saw in the store went way above and beyond in the way of courtesy and kindness.

I'm kinda thinking this thread might have started as another one of those bogus posts.

My first reation is that the member # is almost sequential with freddie, mad german, etc. Bogus. He knows exactly who he is fabricating a story about. Ignore.

Seems this post ought to be titled "Trolling rudely".

I wasn't going to respond on this thread, but since everyone else has, I can't resist.

How to spot a troll:
Member number is brand new.
Number of posts is near zero.
The story doesn't ring true.
Topic is one that lots of people will respond to.
Grammer sounds like something a teenager would write.

Looks like school has started, and teacher is not monitoring what junior is doing on the web.

<hr>

PS. Mr. European Hiker looked me up on the web and called me, asked why I would attack him like that.

So Mr. European Hiker from the Bay Area, I am sorry. You post didn't "ring true", --especially the "European Hiker" part. So I posted what I thought wasn't too harsh of an attack.

Doug is usually a nice guy, but he obviously gets ticked off at times.

SteveC, Sept. 24

Lighten up....Doug is way cool....You are very thin skinned....Go home!

Next time I am at the portal I will make a point to go find Doug, shake his hand, and thank him for this message board.

Well, I will give the person the benefit of the doubt. Looks like an isolated case. I will say that who ever runs this board does an excellent job. When I first hiked there three years this really helped out. So I would like to say thanks to that person or persons.

You mean Doug! He's the guy that runs the board.

Either Doug was having a bad day or you misinturpretted what he said. My experience with Doug has always be the best. Besides this message board that many of us might never have summited Mt. Whitney without, he has the greatest knowledge of the mountain and is always willing to share and lend a helping hand.

Besides always be friendly and open, Doug once dragged himself out in the middle of the night to help my son and I un-stick the frozen water spigot at the bathrooms so we could fill our bladders for an early morning start up the mountain.

Doug is a Mt. Whitney hero in our book.

Besides, "what's the weather going to be like at your house tomorrow?" Sounds like the right answer to me when it comes to Mt. Whitney:-). And was probably a preface to telling you that weather there is and always will be totally unpredictable. May be your patience and understanding were a bit off at the time.

You should think twice though about making judgements of other people especially in a public forum.

rlfstop

my 2 cents worth......
i'm one of those newbies who will probably ask him a number of questions this weekend.
on this board, i have only heard good things about him (and his pancakes, his burgers, his beer, his shower, etc.)
i am very thankful for this board (and doug sponsoring it) because it is all of you guys/gals(regulars) on this mountain that has made me feel great and well prepared for my first trip up there!!!!!
thank you all!!!
rich