Natural gas, Netflix and Grace

When my husband and I bought our first house fourteen years ago, we also became first-time natural gas customers.  The apartment we had shared for the first five years of our marriage was all-electric.  (And forgive me for bragging, but we only paid $250 a month for this home-in-the-country, including utilities.  Thankfully, we didn't have to pay extra for all the mice and bugs.)


I discovered right away I love cooking with a gas stove.  I'll never go back.  I also discovered after several months I do not like my gas clothes dryer.  Seems as if it turns whites yellow over time.  But the price sure couldn't be beat.  $20 a month for gas.  That was a fantastic deal and I wondered why everyone didn't use natural gas in their homes.


About nine months later, I received a call from the natural gas company.  Apparently, our meter hadn't been working and we'd just been paying the base fee for our gas.  They hadn't been charging us for the actual gas we'd used.  Oops!


The woman asked me -- and she wasn't all that nice about it --  "Didn't you wonder why you were only paying $20 a month?"


I answered, "My husband pays the bills."  (True, but uh, I record and file the bills.)


The honest answer is I genuinely didn't realize I was getting a good deal.  If I had given it much thought, I might have figured that out.  But life was (and is) full of plenty of important things to think about and that wasn't one of them.


All of this leads me to Netflix.  I've been a Netflix customer since 2004.  I love movies and I love obscure movies.... and so, I love Netflix.  Their customer service has been great too.  The only thing that makes me happier than when a company regularly asks me "How was your experience?" is when they quickly and smoothly correct any mistakes they make.  On those fronts, Netflix has kept me happy for a good long time.

Then they added instant streaming through Wii.  Sure, their selection was a bit slim, but what an Awesome Feature!  This addition allowed us to dump our cable.  (Hello, paying way too much for way too little.)  I was pleased as punch with this arrangement.


But like paying $20 for natural gas, this wasn't a deal that would realistically last.  If I'd given it some thought, I might have realized that too.


Nevertheless, I was as dumbstruck as anyone by the Netflix pricing roller coaster launched this summer.  First the too chipper price hike email (and what a price hike it was!) -- followed by a dubiously contrite apology email two months later explaining the formation of the new Qwikster DVD company (ahem) --  followed three weeks later by the rather terse cancel-that email.

That we were all a bit dizzy and wondering if Netflix was worth the ride was understandable.  That people were angry and feeling more than a little vindictive was not surprising.  Angry bloggers and internet commenters have more or less asked for CEO Reed Hasting's head on a platter since then.  (Check out my friend, Mike's blog on this.)


Hang with me here.  As a mom, I often find myself asking my children this question: What do you want to have happen?


When they come into the kitchen whining they are hungry, I ask, "What do you want to have happen?"  That's usually followed by, "Can I have a snack?" which is followed by my suggestion that they have something healthy like fruit, which is followed by a snort as they get their own semi-nutritious snack.  (Okay, so it doesn't work perfectly, but you get the idea.)


I don't know that many of us have learned to ask for what we want.  In fact, I'm not sure many of us are good at realizing what we do in fact want.  So we dig in our heels wherever we're standing and defend our position for all it's worth.  Sounds a lot like politics, eh?  And broken marriages.  And countries at war.  I don't want to be too simplistic, but one has to wonder.


So I ask you people now, regarding Netflix what do you want to have happen?


Yes, this was a leadership debacle on Hasting's part and a mighty embarrassing one at that.  Yes, his wavering has seemed more than a little wishy-washy.  (Apparently, this is an even greater sin than the price increase.)  Yes, the immediate demise of  both Netflix and Hastings might be momentarily satisfying to some people.


But what I really want is for the price increase to disappear.  Realistically (and unfortunately), that's not going to happen.  I sorta get it.  If I can't have that then, I want the Netflix I had before.  The one that offered an unmatchable selection of DVDs, a broadening streaming selection and great customer service.


Ultimately, though, I think what I want is a world where it's okay for even a CEO to experiment and to make mistakes.  Not only that, but a world that allows him the freedom to admit the mistakes and to revise plans accordingly, rather than sticking to his guns out of obedience to some twisted definition of  leadership.


Goodness knows, I need the same grace as a wife and mother and coworker and friend.


Even as I write then, I'm realizing I am rooting for Mr. Hastings and for Netflix.  We need more examples of redemption and restoration these days.  And we need those more than we need cheap movie streaming, or even cheap natural gas.

But please, Mr. Hastings, may all future Netflix thrills be on our TV screens and not in our email inboxes.  




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Because sometimes all you can do is shrug your shoulders and laugh, here's a Saturday Night Live sketch about Netflix.  It's slightly off color, but remarkably tame by SNL's standards.  Enjoy!