Giving The Pickle

I was speaking with a friend of mine regarding customer service. When explained that someone was moving my cheese. A reference to a book about dealing with change.

It's also a book that was handed out at my workplace last year. He said that I should give them the pickle. He explained that the giving the pickle was in reference to the following story.


An old man visits his favorite restaurant twice a week. Over the years the waitress that he always gets gives him a free pickle with his roast beef on rye. Suddenly  and without warning she is replaced by a new waitress. This one charges the old man for the extra pickle. Outraged the old man told all  his fellow seniors to avoid the place like the plague and they did. The restaurant went under a year later.


That, my friends is giving them the pickle.

Percy Pickle's reaction to recent changes at his workplace!

It's less about dealing with change and more about being given the shaft in my opinion. That's they're way of helping people deal with being given the shaft.